The 3 R's
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The 3 R’s Reduce, Reuse & Recycle
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Transcript of The 3 R's
The 3 R’s Reduce, Reuse & Recycle
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Reduce
One of the easiest ways to look after the environment is to reduce your footprint by cutting back on the amount of energy, water and waste you produce daily. Here’s a quick breakdown of how reducing the amount of waste you produce affects three areas: • Energy –making sure you switch electrical appliances
off once you’ve finished using them, or using sources of renewable energy will reduce the amount fuel you waste.
• Water - water covers 71% of the Earth’s surface, but
very little is suitable for drinking. In many parts of the world, drinkable water is in very short supply. Every time a drop of water goes down the drain, it becomes unsuitable for consumption unless properly treated again. Don’t waste water, it's the most valuable resource we have!
• Solid Waste - there is only so much room available for
rubbish, landfills are so tightly packed. It takes ages for rubbish to decompose. The easiest way to reduce solid waste is to reduce your how much rubbish you produce. Be cautious of what you buy and how you throw it away.
Reuse Reuse is simply the act of finding a second purpose for something. Reuse is an important step after you’ve already reduced, but before you are ready to recycle. Reuse is a process that many of us already do in our everyday lives without even realising it. Any time you buy or sell an item second-hand using resources like Craigslist, eBay or Freecycle, you are providing an additional use for the item. The important thing to consider when you want to reuse is that creativity is king. The creativity also provides the opportunity to be thrifty by reusing what you already have.
Recycle Recycling is the process of taking a item at the end of its useful life and using all or part of it to make another product. The internationally recognized symbol for recycling includes three arrows moving in a triangle. Each arrow represents a different part of the recycling process, from collection to re-manufacture to resale. What does all this have to do with you? Well, recycling is a simple way that you can help out the environment, create a profitable market for recycled goods and help preserve natural resources so they don’t run out.
Recycling Facts • The average person generates over 4 pounds of
rubbish every day and about 1.5 tons of solid waste per year.
• Last year, the UK produced enough rubbish to circle the Earth 14 times.
• Over 75% of waste is recyclable, but we only recycle about 30% of it.
• The world generates 21.5 million tons of food waste each year. If we composted that food, it would reduce the same amount of greenhouse gas as taking 2 million cars off the road.
• Recycling one aluminium can saves enough energy to listen to a full album on your iPod. Recycling 100 cans could light your bedroom for two whole weeks.
• Recycling aluminium cans saves 95% of the energy used to make alum cans from new material.
• Last year the UK threw away almost 9 million tons of glass. That could fill enough tractor trailers to stretch from NYC to LA (and back!).
• If everyone recycled just one-tenth of their newspapers, we could save about 25 million trees each year.
Things you never knew were recyclable
1. Hair – (No, you didn't read that wrong). Human hair is compostable and recyclable. Hair from your hairbrush or fur from your pet are full of useful nitrogen that can be thrown in the compost pile. Donating your hair could help clean up future oil spills.
2. Surfboards – ReSurf Recycling recycles all surfboards into products including concrete for paving city roads. Additionally, the company developed a method to produce 100% recycled yoga mats.
3. Trophies - Total Awards & Promotions, Inc. has a trophy recycling program to benefit charities. They recycle your defunct awards and donate them to non-profit organizations.
4. Cotton Wool - Cotton is also something that can go in the compost bin.
5 things you didn’t know you could buy reusable
1. Toothbrushes – you can now get a reusable toothbrush, you replace the head of the toothbrush every few months, rather than toss the whole product in the bin.
2. Wrapping paper – this is not only a greener wrapping option, but it’s also just as convenient as tossing your present into a conventional gift bag: There’s no tape, ribbons or bows needed.
3. Cotton Wool - whether you use cotton balls for removing makeup or for dabbing medication on wounds, replace your disposable cotton balls with reusable rounds, and you’ll have one less thing to throw away each day.
4. Straws – a reusable stainless steel drinking straw is perfect for smoothies, milkshakes or juice, this straw is dishwasher safe and will last a lifetime.
5. Sandwich bags - ditch the disposable sandwich bags and get a reusable one . They are dishwasher-safe so are easy to use again and again.
Richard Branson He is one of the richest men in Britain and owns the whole Virgin empire, so why should he care about the environment? Well, a few years ago he didn’t care at all. In fact, he denied that global warming was even real! Since 2006 though he has seen the error of his ways and has vowed that all profits from his Virgin airlines and rail transport businesses will be poured into environmental research. He is now heavily involved with the Picnic Green Challenge, an annual competition for the best, new, green initiative.
www.greenerideal.com
Stuff to do
• Play the recycling game
• Take the quiz
• How wasteful are you?
• Play sort it out
• Recycling in the news
• What's going on in Stockton?
• Snaffle Up
Stuff to watch
• In that order...
• Did you know...?
• What will happen if we don't recycle?
• The truth about modern landfills
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
