RECYCLING

 RECYCLE  TRASH  COMPOST Recycle Plant

DOES IT BREAK DOWN?  Degrade= break down  Anything that can be broken down naturally by decomposers  Food scraps, wood, paper  Anything that cannot be broken down naturally in a reasonable amount of time  Plastics, glass bottles, cans, Styrofoam, BIODEGRADABLE NON- BIODEGRADABLE

THERE ARE NOW BIODEGRADABLE PLASTICS

CONTROLLING WASTE- 3 R’S  3 R’s  Reduce- create less waste in the first place  Reuse- find another use for a product  Recycle- reclaiming raw materials to create something new

1. REDUCE  To reduce means to make or use less  results in less waste  Buy less & use hand me downs  Yard sales – Get rid of extra stuff  Buy in bulk  Use cloth bags instead of plastic  Walk/bike when possible

HOW ELSE CAN WE REDUCE?  Composting  Natural decomposition of waste  Produces compost (fertilizer) for crops  Can be done on a small or large scale  backyard or a facility  Mix dirt, food scraps, water and air together to make compost

OR

2. REUSE  Reuse products  do not throw out after one use  Travel mugs instead of plastic coffee cups  Wrapper free lunchbox  Cloth instead of plastic bags  Reuse plastic-ware  Repair broken items instead of buying new ones

3. RECYCLE  Reclaiming raw materials from products to create new product  Conserves energy & resources  Reduces the environmental damage

4 CATEGORIES OF RECYCLING

1. Metals= melted down & reused 2. Glass= melted down to make new glass containers 3. Paper= recycled a few times 4. Plastics

WHERE DOES PLASTIC COME FROM?  Plastics come from oil  They can take over 500 years to break down

DOWNSIDE OF RECYCLING  Not the complete answer to our waste problem  Some materials cannot be recycled  Some recycled products have no uses  Have to use energy/electricity to recycle into new products   Creates pollution