think green Recycling

think green Recycling

Contents Recycling: An Introduction... 4 The Earth s Resources... 6 Why Recycle? (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)... 8 Hazardous Effects of Waste... 10 Recycling and the Environment... 12 Recycling Methods... 14 Recycling Aluminum Cans... 16 Recycling Paper... 18 Recycling Plastic... 20 Recycling Batteries... 22 Recycling Building Materials... 24 Recycling Asbestos... 26 Recycling Clinical Waste... 28 Recycling Computers... 30 Recycling Metal... 40 Recycling Paint and Oil... 42 Recycling Textiles... 44 Recycling Junk Mail... 46 Recycling Home Water... 48 Curbside Recycling... 50 Recycling Cars... 52 Recycling Used Vehicle Tires... 54 Eco-Labels... 56 What Do Those Numbers Mean on Plastic Containers?... 58 What Cannot Be Recycled?... 60 Facts and Figures... 62 Index... 64 Glossary... 65 Recycling Cell Phones... 32 Recycling Electrical Appliances... 34 Recycling Wood... 36 Recycling Glass... 38

4 THINK GREEN: Recycling Recycling: An Introduction Recycling is using waste materials to make new products. In recycling, garbage is collected. They are used again as raw materials to make something new. Aluminum, glass, plastic, and paper are often recycled. Recycling helps to save the Earth s resources. Less new material is needed if waste can also be used as raw material. Recycling also saves energy and reduces pollution.

The Four Steps to Recycling Recycling usually has four steps: collection, sorting, reclaiming, and reusing. 1. Collection: Materials are collected and taken to a recycling center. 2. Sorting: Materials are separated. Different types of materials have different processing steps. 3. Reclaiming: Collected materials are processed. This makes them usable again. For example, aluminum cans are processed into large blocks called ingots. These blocks are then rolled out as long aluminum sheets. 4. Reusing: After processing, the materials are used in new products. For example, the aluminum sheets create new aluminum cans. How much is recycled in the United States every year? Yard trimmings: 62% Paper and paperboard: 51.6% Aluminum drink cans: 45.1% Plastic drink bottles: 30.9% Glass containers: 25.3% What is waste? Waste is anything that we throw away after use. It includes newspapers, plastic or glass bottles, food scraps, used furniture, old appliances, and batteries. Recycling: An Introduction Where does the waste go? In the United States, most of the waste is put in landfills. The rest is recycled, composted, or burned. Recycling Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions Greenhouse gases trap heat in the air or atmosphere. This warms the Earth s surface. More greenhouse gases can lead to global warming. Recycling helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions are gases given off by things people do. How to Manage Waste Waste can be better managed by reducing, recycling, and reusing materials. Reducing means making less waste to start with. Companies can change products and the way they are made to produce less waste. Less waste goes into landfills because materials are used again. 5 Recycling Helps Recycling helps the environment. Recycling reduces greenhouse gas emissions. It also reduces water pollution and saves energy. Recycling saves resources for our children s future. It also reduces the need for new landfills.

6 THINK GREEN: Recycling The Earth s Resources The Earth is our home planet. It is the only planet where life is known to exist. The Earth has many natural resources. A few of these natural resources are water, soil, air, and energy from the sun. Energy from the sun is called solar energy. The Earth has many more resources. Fossil fuels such as oil and coal are sources of energy. Minerals such as stone are sources of building materials. Forests are a source of fuel and other products. Natural resources also include living plants and animals. All of these resources support life on Earth. Renewable and Nonrenewable There are two kinds of natural resources: renewable and nonrenewable. Renewable resources can be replaced naturally. They can never be used up completely. Renewable resources include energy from the sun, wind, or water. Nonrenewable resources are limited. They cannot be remade or re-grown. Fossil fuels, like coal, oil, and natural gas, are formed from decaying plants and animals. It takes a long time to make fossil fuels. Renewable Resources Air Fresh water Trees Biomass (plant materials and animal waste used as a source of fuel) Solar energy Wind power Water power Geothermal energy (energy from the heat inside the Earth)

The Earth s Resources 7 Did you know? A faucet left running for three minutes uses up to one quart of drinking water. Earth Is in Danger Six billion people live on this planet. People use most of the planet s natural resources. The population of Earth is growing. More people require more energy. This increasing demand means we use Earth s natural resources faster. Nonrenewable Resources Gasoline Coal Oil Natural gas Diesel Nuclear power How can you help? Reduce, reuse, and recycle Learn your carbon footprint (how much carbon you produce in everything you do and use) Replace an incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb Buy organic and locally grown food Plant a tree Walk more and drive less Do not use plastic bags at the grocery store, bring your own cloth bags Save Water and Energy Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth. Fix the faucet if it drips. Always turn off lights and appliances when you re not using them. Use the daylight rather than turning on lights. Wear warm clothes and turn down the heat in the winter. Do not leave the refrigerator door open long.