Recycling
This website will explain to you why recycling is important and how to recycle effectively.
Recycling - Quick Facts -
Why Recycle?
1. Recycling conserves our valuable natural resources.
2. Recycling saves energy.
3. Recycling saves clean air and clean water.
4. Recycling saves landfill space.
Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4,000 kilowatts of energy and 7,000 gallons of water!
Making recycled paper instead of new paper uses 64 percent less energy and uses 58 percent less water.
One tree can filter up to 60 pounds of pollutants from the air each year. More than 1/3 of all fiber used to make paper comes from recycled paper. Only 1 percent of the world's water supply is usable; 97 percent is in the ocean and 2 percent is frozen. It takes a 15-year-old tree to produce 700 grocery bags.
Where does the trash go? When you throw something "away", it doesn't go away! Trash is either burned, buried, recycled or dumped into rivers and oceans.
Disposable diapers last centuries in landfills. An average baby will go through 8,000 of them!
Recycling a stack of newspapers just 3 feet high can save one tree.
How Recycled Paper Is Made! -
Waste paper is collected, sorted, baled and transported to a paper recycling plant. You can help by sorting paper and keeping it dry and out of the sun (water and sunlight make it harder to remove ink).
At the paper factory, used paper is mixed with water in a huge blender called a "hydrapulper," which mixes the paper with water, pulling inks away from the paper fibers and separating the fibers themselves. De-inking chemicals are sometimes also added.
The pulp mixture passes through several different-sized screens, which separate the paper fibers from paper clips, staples and other contaminants.
In most cases, the clean pulp is then mixed with some new wood pulp to make the recycled paper stronger. Recycled paper fibers get shorter the more often they are recycled. Most fibers can be recycled! The clean pulp is pressed into sheets, dried, finished and placed onto rolls.
Everything Old Is New Again! -
Old newspapers can become new newspapers.
Old corrugated boxes can become new corrugated boxes.
Old printing and writing paper can become new printing and writing paper, wrapping paper, and paper used for magazines, books and brochures.
Old scrap paper of all kinds can be used to make new paper towels and tissues, egg cartons, fruit trays and flower pots.
Old grocery bags can become new mail wrappings for magazines and catalogs, new dog food bags as well as new grocery bags.
Old toy boxes or shoe boxes can become new cereal and soap boxes, soft drink cartons and pizza boxes.
Natural Resources -
These are the things that occur naturally in our environment. All human-made products are initially made from natural resources. A resource is a source of supply or support.
Nonrenewable Resources -
These are the result of natural geological processes that take millions of years to complete, such as aluminum, steel, tin, petroleum and fossil fuels. They cannot be renewed.
Renewable Resources -
These can be renewed or recreated over time, such as trees that can be replanted. Sometimes, though, renewable resources are used up faster than they can be renewed. It's especially important to be resourceful and conserve our resources so this will not happen!
Pollutants -
These are harmful substances in our air or water. When certain items are dumped into landfills or burned in incinerators, they give off pollutants.
Landfill -
This is where much of our trash ends up and is buried. Landfills are often in low-lying areas where refuse is buried between layers of earth. The low-lying land would then be "filled" to ground level or above.
Solid Waste -
This is our garbage. A solid is anything that has a definite firm shape and volume. Waste is anything thrown away, especially if it has not been used completely.