Recycling benefits us all because when we renew our resources we conserve energy, instead of using more and adding to carbon emissions. For example, recycling a single aluminum can can produce enough energy to power your television for three hours. The average American produces 28 pounds of aluminum can trash per year, and most of that ends up in landfills and oceans. If all of those cans were recycled, you could potentially power that same TV for 2,688 hours! Without recycling, all of that energy is lost, and more energy has to be used to create new products.