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Reduce Reuse Recycle – For Real!
What do we really save by recycling?
Recycling:
Saves Natural Resources
- By making products from recycled materials instead
of virgin materials, we conserve land and reduce the
need to drill for oil and dig for minerals.
Saves Energy - It usually takes less energy to make recycled products.
Saves Clean Air and Water
- In most cases, making products from recycled
materials creates less air pollution and water
pollution than making products from virgin
materials.
Saves Landfill Space - When the materials that you recycle go into new
products, they don't go into landfills or
incinerators, so landfill space is conserved.
Saves Money and Creates Jobs
- The recycling process creates far more jobs than
landfills or incinerators, and recycling can
frequently be the least expensive waste management
method for cities and towns.
Project Ideas
1. Do the Math - Make a Difference! Have kids
make a list of recyclable items they use throughout
an entire day (soda cans, milk bottles, water
bottles, paper, magazines, newspaper, cardboard from
numerous sources, etc). Then multiply by the number
of children in the larger community (your city, your
state, your nation). Then multiply by 365 days to
see how many recyclable items children encounter in
one year. Ask kids to describe the difference it
would make to be able to use these materials over
and over rather than putting them into a landfill.
2. Visit a Recycling Center - Many
neighborhoods and schools have a recycling center.
The good news is that lots of people use these
centers. The bad news is that centers sometimes have
more recyclables than they can easily accommodate
between pickups and can become messy and
disorganized with loose items and trash on the
ground. Visit
www.nashville.gov/recycle for the
locations of recycling centers you can help keep
tidy and to learn about where recyclables go. Why
not take a batch of recyclables when you go and
practice sorting?
3. Be a letter writer, share an idea, lend a hand
- Environmental responsibility is an issue that
requires constant attention by communities and by
government. If you know of schools or businesses or
facilities that do not have a system to recycle
their paper, plastic, aluminum, cardboard, or glass,
contact them to see if you can help establish a
system through local government services or through
volunteers who care about the environment. |
