By: Valerie Taylor Tymeka Fussell

What is recycling and where did it start?  Recycling is the processing of used materials into new products to save resources and energy, and the collection, storage and transportation of those materials from the initial user.  Woodbury, NJ was the first city to mandate recycling in the United States. It was lead by Rosa Rowan in the early 1970s, the idea of towing a ‘’recycling’’ trailer behind a waste management vehicle to enable the collection of trash and recyclable material at the same time emerged. As a result other towns and cities followed suit in the United States making recycling a requirement.

Why should we recycle? 1.We should recycle because it would help save energy. Recycling materials save energy which keeps production costs down. 2.Recycling reduces landfills. Reducing landfills is a good idea because no one wants to live next to a landfill, that’s why recycling reduces the need for more landfills. 3.It is good for the economy. It is good for the economy because it helps us provide materials for the increase demands for products in today’s society without depleting natural resources. It provides jobs 4. It helps our climate problems Recycling produces considerably less carbon, which reduces the amount of unhealthy greenhouse gas emissions.

Reasons why people do not recycle 1.Inconvenience In many regions of the country, especially rural regions, curbing recycling projects do not exist. Recycling takes to much effort. 2. Lack of space many people don’t want an open containers of ‘’garbage’’ lying around in their kitchen. There isn’t any open space, such as (out-of-the-way place to put recycle bins, especially when separate bins for glass, plastic, aluminum, and paper are needed). 3. It is to confusing It’s hard to decipher which kinds go where, such as bottles, plastic and paper. 4. People want to get paid for recycling, so they don’t do it. Some countries fine people for not recycling. Some regions pay for just bottle recycling (we know that works). Some areas have no penalties or incentives for recycling.

Benefits of Recycling  Recycling conserves our natural resources.  Recycling saves landfills spaces.  Recycling conserves energy primarily because it extracts and refines natural resources. The energy to recycle is less than the energy needed to make it from scratch, even after factoring the energy involved in collecting and sorting recyclables. Aluminum It saves 95% of the energy if used from recycling. Paper It saves 45% of the energy needed if used from recycling. Plastic Bottles It saves 67% of the energy needed if used from recycling. Glass It saves 20% of the energy needed if used from recycling.

Would you rather have a beautiful community or a landfill full of garbage ? The mass of this pyramid is 13.5 acres. The mass of the fresh kills landfill is 2,200 acres. The landfill is 163 times LARGER !!!!!!!!!!!!

What should schools do to help recycle? Try to figure out how much your school wastes every day. Organize a team that is willing to comitt to this program. Once you have the approval from your principal, begin investigating. You’ll need to find a company that will handle your recycling.

Recycling at Brimm We have trash cans in majority of all the class rooms.  One of the trash cans is the recycling ben with a piece of paper on it saying recycle, which paper, plastic bottles with caps off, and also aluminum cans goes in.  The other trash can is regular trash can that any kind of garbage goes in