Recycling By: K.Apurva M.Mounica

What is recycling? Recycling is the process of taking a product at the end of its useful life and using all or part of it to make another product. Recycling varies from ‘re-use’ in the sense that while re-use just means using old products repeatedly, recycling means using the core elements of an old product as raw material to manufacture new goods. It is also the process by which discarded materials are collected, sorted, processed and converted in to raw materials which are then used in the production of new products. Recycling is a simple way that you, as a consumer, can help out the environment, create a profitable market for recycled goods and help preserve natural resources from being depleted. So...let's get involved!

Process of Recycling

Why is recycling important? If you are wondering in your mind as to "why I should recycle" then here are some causes which should convince you to do so. It saves Energy: when new products are manufactured from the raw material obtained from recycled products, it saves a lot of energy which is consumed for the production. Saves Environmental Conditions and Reduces Pollution: Recycling helps in preventing global climate change to a great extent. By minimizing the energy spent on industrial production, recycling also helps in reducing greenhouse gas emission. Saves Natural Resources: This helps in saving our natural resources to a great extent. For example, once an old newspaper is recycled we do not need to use the resource of another tree to produce new paper products.

Economic Benefits: Similar to energy and natural resource, recycling also helps in saving a lot of expense, demanded for the production of new products from ‘virgin’ materials. Recycling saves waste disposal: Most of the landfill sites are filled up with a lot of waste products that could have been recycled effectively. Some of these waste materials belong to non-biodegradable category which takes a long time to decompose. Recycling enables proper usage of these waste products and saves space for landfills.

What happens if we don’t recycle? So we are all planning to lead a happy and careless life and live just for today. Lets not recycle and lets use up all the natural resources. Lets be careless about what is left for tomorrow and wakeup to these consequences: Landfills: The landfills are filling up fast. Most of them are getting full and closing down. We're running out of space to put all the trash. So lets wake up to landfills at our door step!! Greenhouse effect: The greenhouse effect keeps the earth warm when functioning normally. For the first time in history, human activities are altering the climate of our entire planet. Ozone: Ozone, the primary component of smog, is a gas formed when nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbons combine in sunlight. In the atmosphere, ozone occurs naturally as a thin layer that protects us from the sun's ultraviolet rays. But when it's formed at ground level, it's deadly.

Hazardous wastes: Careless use and disposal of these substances contaminate our food, water, and air. We enjoy the convenience of such chemically derived products as plastics, detergents, and aerosols and yet we are often unaware of the hidden price tag associated with them. Ground Water Pollution: Because we have not understood groundwater, and how vulnerable it is, we have been careless. Gasoline and other harmful liquids have been allowed to leak from underground storage tanks into the groundwater supply. Pollutants seep from poorly constructed landfills. Plastic: No one really knows how much plastic is fouling the oceans, but a recent report estimated that up to 350 million pounds of packaging and fishing gear may be lost or dumped by fisherman and sailors each year. Millions of pounds more may come from individuals, private boats, and factories. Pollutants: Sulfur and nitrogen oxide pollutants released by coal burning electric power plants or motor vehicles are spewed into the atmosphere. There they are changed chemically and they fall back to earth as acid rain or snow. This destroys plant and animal life in streams, damages forests, and even erodes buildings.

So wake upppppp!!!!! IF WE DON’T START RECYCLING ALL THAT IS TO RECYCLED, WE WILL SOON END UP IN A WORLD OF NOTHING AND A PLANET OF DEAD THINGS.

Some of the things that can be recycled are: Electronics like: CDs and DVDs, Cell Phone, Computer Monitors, Computers, DVD player, Inkjet cartridge, Motherboard, MP3 player, Office Machines, Televisions, VCR, Video Game. Plastic: plastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic casting, PVC. Paper: Books, Brown paper bags, Cardboard, Catalogs, Computer Paper, Magazines, Mail, News paper, Paper board, Phone books, wrapping papers. Household: Bicycle, Clothing and textile, cooking oil, eye glasses, furniture, holiday lights, household cleaners, light bulbs, mattresses, musical instruments, solid waste disposal, toys. Garden: Christmas tree, composting, dirt, fertilizers, mulching Automotive: Auto bodies, Auto parts, car batteries, car fluids, fuel, motor oil, oil, tires Metal: Aerosol can, Aluminum can, Aluminum foil, ferrous metal, metal clothes, hangers, steel. Glass: blue glass, brown glass, clear glass, glass ornaments, green glass Construction: brick, carpet, pallets, wood

Conclusion: If we want to save our planet earth, it is of utmost importance we realize the need for recycling. If we keep dumping all the wastage produced by humans into seas and rivers our earth will become toxic, which will make it impossible for us to live on. The natural resources are depleting at high rates and eventually we will end up in a planet with nothing. Let us start doing our part by using recycled paper, paper bags, and paper carton juice boxes instead of plastic covers. The world is in our hands and its future depends on our decisions and actions so think and act wisely. So let’s follow the 3Rs-Reduce Reuse and Recycle and be kind to our mother Earth.

REUSE, REDUCE, RECYCLE! Recycling is easy and the best part is every can do it and it does good to our earth and it costs us nothing and the list goes on….just RECYCLE !!!