Due to an augmented increase in the concentration of these gases since mid 19th century caused by advanced and rapid growth in human agricultural and industrialization activities, the heat that was supposed to be absorbed and reflected in equal proportions have been destabilized. Thus more heat is trapped within the earth’s atmosphere causing a noticeably drastic climatic change and substantial increase in the average temperature on earth a process which is known as Global Warming.
Now, since we know what causes these hazardous effects to our global home we as smart and civilized universal citizens of the world should develop ways and means of curbing or preventing activities that are known to bring about these harmful consequences. It is always advisable to start off on a small scale to the best of our individual ability. There are many ways to initiate steps towards slowing down the warming process and one amongst them is the magical term- Recycling.
The fossil fuels and the wastes that are burnt thus producing unwanted gases can be prevented if we, on a small scale start using materials in our day to day life that can be easily recycled. For instance, instead of buying disposable articles we could start buying products that come in reusable packages. It is wise to start a recycling program at your workplace or your society to recycle newspaper, cola cans and glass. A paper bag made out of the newspaper comes in handy. This can highly reduce the amount of waste products that fill our garbage landfills and hence there would be less combustions leading to lesser release of carbon dioxide and methane. Aluminum, steel and copper are metals that can be recycled over and over again by re-melting the metal, especially aluminum. As a common man what we could do is separate aluminum articles and help collect it from other households in our locality and send them to a recycling plant.
Use of glass as opposed to plastic must be encouraged because as compared to plastic, glass has high recycle value. Glass jars are highly economical that can be used to store edibles every now and then by just simply washing them with soap and water each time. Milk can be bought in glass bottles instead of plastics, aerated drinks in plastic bottles should be avoided especially when one intends to throw away the bottle. Both the drink and the bottle in this case is an unnecessary requirement for a health conscious human being. Avoid buying products made out of wood. Deforestation of tropical forests and other kinds of scantily found timber are major causes of release of harmful gases. Cutting down on some food products that are not in season and thus are artificially induced to grow using fertilizers can also be curbed. Avoid processed foods not just because they are unhealthy but also because their packaging does not greatly contribute to recycling. Most of the domestic cleaning products emit ozone depleting gases instead use mixtures of baking soda, vinegar, water and soap.
Recycling Glass
- Glass is a material that can be recycled forever as it never wears out.
- For every 2,000 pounds of glass that is recycled, we save more than 2,000 pounds of other resources that go into the making of glass (1,330 pounds of sand, 433 pounds of soda ash, 433 pounds of limestone, and 151 pounds of feldspar)
- Most of the bottles and jars that we use contains at least 25% recycled glass in it.
- Recycling glass instead of making it from silica sand reduces mining waste by 70%, water use by 50%, and air pollution by 20%. (source: Environmental Defense Fund)
- The energy saved by recycling just one glass bottle is enough to light a 100-watt bulb for 4 hours
Recycling Metals
- Recycling an aluminum can result in 95% savings of the energy needed to make aluminum from bauxite ore
- The energy saved each year by steel recycling is equal to the electrical power used by 18 million homes each year – or enough energy to last Los Angeles residents for eight years. (source: Steel Recycling Institute)
- In the United States, the amount of steel that is discarded and not recycled every year is enough to build all the new American-made cars
Recycling Paper
- 75% of each tree that is cut down to produce paper is wasted
- 98 tons of various resources are required to make one ton of paper
- Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 trees, 2 barrels of oil (enough to run the average car for 1,260 miles), 4,100 kilowatts of energy (enough power for the average home for 6 months), 3.2 cubic yards of landfill space, and 60 pounds of air pollution. (source: Trash to Cash)
- Over ½ million trees are saved each year by recycling paper in Boulder County. (source: Eco-Cycle)
- If we recycled all of the newspapers printed in the U.S. on a typical Sunday, we would save 550,000 trees–or about 26 million trees per year. (source: California Department of Conservation)
- Paper made from recycled paper uses 70% less energy
Recycling Plastic
- Americans use 4 million plastic bottles every hour, but only 25% of plastic bottles are recycled.
- Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial fleet of airplanes every 3 months. (source: Environmental Defense Fund)
- About 80% of what Americans throw away is recyclable, yet our recycling rate is just 28%. (source: Environmental Protection Agency)
General facts
- There are more roads in our National Forests than the entire U.S. Interstate Highway system. (source: National Forest Protection Alliance)
- Recycling creates 6 times as many jobs as landfilling. (source: Colorado Recycles)
- If every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of 1,000 sheet virgin fiber bathroom tissues with 100% recycled ones, we could save: 373,000 trees, 1.48 million cubic feet of landfill space, and 155 million gallons of water. (source: Seventh Generation Co.)
- The U.S. is 5% of the world’s population but uses 25% of its natural resources. (source: Environmental Protection Agency)
i want some facts about recycling for kids for their school project. As you know it is very important to make kids aware about recycling of paper, plastic bottles, glass and aluminum cans. i hope my kid will get good marks from his paper on facts about recycling for kids.