Recycling

Why Should We Recycle?

  • Reduces new resources

    • Recycling allows for the reusing of products to make new ones. If no one would recycle, new products would need to be made from natural materials. By recycling, these natural materials are saved, as the recycled material is just made into something new.

  • Saves energy

    • When new products need to be made from natural materials, much more energy is used than if old recyclable material is turned into new material. This is because there are many more steps; extraction of natural materials, their refining processes and even transportation.

  • Protects the environment

    • Recycling keep plastic away from ending up in seas for marine life to choke on.

    • By reducing the need for natural materials, recycling cuts the extracting, refining and transportation processes accompanied with them. These processes produce a lot of greenhouse gases, which contribute to climate change.

  • Reduces landfills

    • Landfills produce methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. The trash (non-recyclable materials) are to take up to 50 years to decompose, whereas some recyclable materials, such as glass, will take up to 100 million years to decompose!

      • Think about how many glass bottles are thrown away, rather than recycled! Now think about if all those bottles were recycled and how much landfill space they saved! Even further, how much less methane was released!

What to Recycle

Double check with your town's recycling rules (some towns will not allow some of this material, and some towns will require certain materials to be separated)

  • plastic bottles and containers

  • cardboard

    • shipping boxes

    • cereal and snack boxes

  • paper

    • magazines

    • newspaper

    • office paper

    • mail

  • metals

    • cans

      • tin

      • aluminum

      • steel

  • glass

    • food containers

    • jars

    • bottles

      • soda

      • beer

      • wine

      • liquor

What Not to Recycle

Again, double check your town's recycling rules (some towns will allow the recycling of some of these materials with special instructions)

  • plastic wrap

  • plastic bags (reuse these instead!)

  • egg cartons

  • take out containers

  • plastic drinking cups (solo cups or coffee cups)

  • paper/plastic products with food residue (unless thoroughly rinsed with no residue left)

  • sharp or broken glass

  • fast food containers/packaging

  • plastic utensils

References

Ecoscraps Staff. “A Simple List of What Can and Cannot Be Recycled.” EcoScraps, www.ecoscraps.com/blogs/sustainable-living/76411652-a-simple-list-of-what-can-and-cannot-be-recycled.

“Measuring Biodegradability.” Science Learning Hub, www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/1543-measuring-biodegradability.

“Why Recycle?” Why Recycle? | Recycle Now, www.recyclenow.com/recycling-knowledge/why-recycle#:~:text=Recycling%20helps%20protect%20the%20environment,helps%20to%20tackle%20climate%20change.