RECYCLING

Recycling is a process to convert waste materials into reusable material to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from land filling) by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal and lower greenhouse gas emissions as compared to plastic production.]Recycling is a key component of modern waste reduction and is the third component of the "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" waste hierarchy.

HOW TO RECYCLE

1. Make a commitment to recycling as much as you can in your household. Along with reducing your consumption and reusing all that you can, recycling can help to reduce the amount of items going into your garbage each week and will ensure that you're contributing to a sustainable and long-term commitment by many communities across the world to making the most of our resources. By recycling regularly, you show other people that it is possible, a good thing to do and that it makes a difference.

• If you have children, talk to them about the benefits of recycling. There are excellent books for children on the benefits of recycling, many in the children's environmental section of your local library or bookstore.
• Start seeing garbage itself as a resource. A lot of garbage that cannot be reused can be recycled or transformed into a brand new object. For example, melted glass becomes new glass containers, tiles, marbles, surfboards and more. 

2. Get involved. Most households in developed country urban areas are now part of a municipal or similar recycling collection scheme. If this is the case for you, you'll already have a grasp on the basics of recycling your household items. However, even here there can be some confusion as to what is recyclable and what is not, as it's not the same across different zones, let alone regions and countries.  Basically, read the accompanying information associated with your household recycling collectors, which may be printed on the recycling container, printed in brochures, on the website of the council or collector or at the premises of either place. If you can't find the information anywhere, call the collector direct.

• Spend a few minutes quickly learning what can and cannot be collected in your recycling location.
• Follow any instructions that the collector stipulates, such as quickly washing out used cans or removing caps from bottles, etc. 

3. Know what can be recycled. Many items are recyclable and over time, more items are added to the list of what can be recycled. Although recycling is dependent on your local collection point's capacity and facilities, as a general rule, most of the following items are recyclable but you do need to read the policies relevant in your area:

• Glass drinking bottles (leave the lids off)
• Milk cartons and other cartons
• Paper, including magazines, newspapers, waste office paper and Contact books (Contact books can have a special collection time in some places); and don't forget your greeting cards and cereal boxes
• Aluminum drink cans; in some places foil trays and foil wrap can be collected, but not all recyclers will collect these latter items.

4. Know what cannot be recycled. Some items can't be recycled for reasons ranging from complexity to hazards. Although technology continues to change all the time (in which case, keep an eye on what new items can be recycled), there are still some items that cannot be recycled. Don't put these into the recycling containers because they create problems and can potentially contaminate the recyclables too. Some of these items include (and this is dependent on your local collector's policies, so be sure to read those thoroughly):

• Light bulbs (although some places provide drop-off areas for compact fluorescent bulbs, to avoid mercury contamination of the landfill)
• Plastics without recycling symbols might not be recyclable
• Drinking glasses, crockery, Pyrex or other oven-proof glass, ceramics
• Carbon paper, foil wrapping, laminated paper, gift ribbon, gift wrapping
• Stickers
• Foil potato chip/crisp bags
• Aerosols are not accepted by all recycling places

5. Be a clean and thoughtful re-user. Before adding some items to recycling, ensure that they're clean. Rinse food or drink residues out of bottles, cans and drink water. Do this at the end of your dish washing, to save water and to benefit from using the suds.

• Don't add broken glass or sharp items to recycling.
• Don't add non-recyclable items just because you can't be bothered doing anything else with them. This sends an unhelpful message to recycling authorities that citizens aren't so capable of sorting! Be recycling proud and use common sense about the additions to your recycling.

6. Share the effort. It's a good idea to ask your neighbors if they have items needing to go to a recycling depot so that more goes in the one vehicle trip each time. Be sure to share the effort to drop off such items on a rotational basis, perhaps putting together a chart on a cloud site such as Google Docs or a wikipedia site to share such information and planning.

7. Spread the word. If you have the time, become a champion for recycling by addressing community groups, school children, preschool groups and other interested groups about the values of recycling and how people can make it easier to do. For sessions with children and teens, there are good books and videos that you can use and consider bringing along people from the recycling industry to talk about their role and what they do.

• Use a blog or a website to promote your own recycling tips and information to help others. Be sure to share tips on Twitter, Facebook and other social media that others can learn from and share around some more. Always keep the messaging positive and active, showing by your own "getting-on-with-it" example.

8. Buy recycled products over non-recycled versions where possible. Help the recycling industry to flourish by preferring the products that come out of it. Some great recycled products you can purchase include:

• Recycled paper. Select the brands with the highest post-consumer waste (PCW) content. The PCW content refers to how much reused pulp has been used to make the paper as opposed to using trees.
• Insulation. There are various types of recycled insulation on the market.
• Clothing. Some brands specialize in turning PET bottles into new outdoor jackets and the like. Look on the labels of the clothing.
• Pens and pencils.

Recycling is a process to convert waste materials into reusable material to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from land filling) by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal and lower greenhouse gas emissions as compared to plastic production.]Recycling is a key component of modern waste reduction and is the third component of the "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" waste hierarchy.

HOW TO RECYCLE

1. Make a commitment to recycling as much as you can in your household. Along with reducing your consumption and reusing all that you can, recycling can help to reduce the amount of items going into your garbage each week and will ensure that you're contributing to a sustainable and long-term commitment by many communities across the world to making the most of our resources. By recycling regularly, you show other people that it is possible, a good thing to do and that it makes a difference.

• If you have children, talk to them about the benefits of recycling. There are excellent books for children on the benefits of recycling, many in the children's environmental section of your local library or bookstore.
• Start seeing garbage itself as a resource. A lot of garbage that cannot be reused can be recycled or transformed into a brand new object. For example, melted glass becomes new glass containers, tiles, marbles, surfboards and more. 

2. Get involved. Most households in developed country urban areas are now part of a municipal or similar recycling collection scheme. If this is the case for you, you'll already have a grasp on the basics of recycling your household items. However, even here there can be some confusion as to what is recyclable and what is not, as it's not the same across different zones, let alone regions and countries.  Basically, read the accompanying information associated with your household recycling collectors, which may be printed on the recycling container, printed in brochures, on the website of the council or collector or at the premises of either place. If you can't find the information anywhere, call the collector direct.

• Spend a few minutes quickly learning what can and cannot be collected in your recycling location.
• Follow any instructions that the collector stipulates, such as quickly washing out used cans or removing caps from bottles, etc. 

3. Know what can be recycled. Many items are recyclable and over time, more items are added to the list of what can be recycled. Although recycling is dependent on your local collection point's capacity and facilities, as a general rule, most of the following items are recyclable but you do need to read the policies relevant in your area:

• Glass drinking bottles (leave the lids off)
• Milk cartons and other cartons
• Paper, including magazines, newspapers, waste office paper and Contact books (Contact books can have a special collection time in some places); and don't forget your greeting cards and cereal boxes
• Aluminum drink cans; in some places foil trays and foil wrap can be collected, but not all recyclers will collect these latter items.

4. Know what cannot be recycled. Some items can't be recycled for reasons ranging from complexity to hazards. Although technology continues to change all the time (in which case, keep an eye on what new items can be recycled), there are still some items that cannot be recycled. Don't put these into the recycling containers because they create problems and can potentially contaminate the recyclables too. Some of these items include (and this is dependent on your local collector's policies, so be sure to read those thoroughly):

• Light bulbs (although some places provide drop-off areas for compact fluorescent bulbs, to avoid mercury contamination of the landfill)
• Plastics without recycling symbols might not be recyclable
• Drinking glasses, crockery, Pyrex or other oven-proof glass, ceramics
• Carbon paper, foil wrapping, laminated paper, gift ribbon, gift wrapping
• Stickers
• Foil potato chip/crisp bags
• Aerosols are not accepted by all recycling places

5. Be a clean and thoughtful re-user. Before adding some items to recycling, ensure that they're clean. Rinse food or drink residues out of bottles, cans and drink water. Do this at the end of your dish washing, to save water and to benefit from using the suds.

• Don't add broken glass or sharp items to recycling.
• Don't add non-recyclable items just because you can't be bothered doing anything else with them. This sends an unhelpful message to recycling authorities that citizens aren't so capable of sorting! Be recycling proud and use common sense about the additions to your recycling.

6. Share the effort. It's a good idea to ask your neighbors if they have items needing to go to a recycling depot so that more goes in the one vehicle trip each time. Be sure to share the effort to drop off such items on a rotational basis, perhaps putting together a chart on a cloud site such as Google Docs or a wikipedia site to share such information and planning.

7. Spread the word. If you have the time, become a champion for recycling by addressing community groups, school children, preschool groups and other interested groups about the values of recycling and how people can make it easier to do. For sessions with children and teens, there are good books and videos that you can use and consider bringing along people from the recycling industry to talk about their role and what they do.

• Use a blog or a website to promote your own recycling tips and information to help others. Be sure to share tips on Twitter, Facebook and other social media that others can learn from and share around some more. Always keep the messaging positive and active, showing by your own "getting-on-with-it" example.

8. Buy recycled products over non-recycled versions where possible. Help the recycling industry to flourish by preferring the products that come out of it. Some great recycled products you can purchase include:

• Recycled paper. Select the brands with the highest post-consumer waste (PCW) content. The PCW content refers to how much reused pulp has been used to make the paper as opposed to using trees.
• Insulation. There are various types of recycled insulation on the market.
• Clothing. Some brands specialize in turning PET bottles into new outdoor jackets and the like. Look on the labels of the clothing.
• Pens and pencils.