The Keep Liberty Beautiful Summer Interns from the Liberty County Summer Youth Employment Program had an assignment to investigate and share - What is Recycling? Shyanne McCoy, NiKaylah Coprick, and Brianna Tucker wanted to share with the Liberty County community.
Every one of us must contribute to keeping as much waste out of the landfill as possible. The three R’s of trash management are Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, and they will all keep our earth clean. Reduce means to cut back on the amount of trash we generate. Here is a simple strategy to reduce your waste output: Bring reusable bags to the grocery store. Most stores sell canvas or durable plastic shopping bags that can be used repeatedly. Finding new ways to use items that would otherwise be discarded is what reuse is all about.
You may reuse goods in various ways to help minimize your garbage output: Clean out your closet. Maybe your size has changed. Maybe your tastes have changed. Instead of throwing away clothes you do not want anymore, give them to someone who needs them. Recycling refers to the process of transforming something old and worthless (such as plastic milk bottles) into something new and valuable (like picnic benches, playground equipment, and recycling bins).
Recycling includes the three steps below, which create a continuous loop, represented by the familiar recycling symbol.
Step 1 Collection and Processing: Several methods for collecting recyclables, including curbside collection, drop-off centers, and deposit or refund programs. After collection, recyclables are sent to a recovery facility to be sorted, cleaned, and processed into materials used in manufacturing.
Step 2 Manufacturing: More and more of today’s products are being manufactured with recycled content. Everyday household items containing recycled materials include newspapers, paper, towels, Aluminum, plastic, glass soft drink containers, steel cans, and plastic laundry detergent bottles.
Step 3 Purchasing New Products Made from Recycled Materials: You help close the recycling loop by buying new products made from recycled materials. There are thousands of products that contain recycled content. When you go shopping, look for products that can be easily recycled, Products that contain recycled content.
Many of the goods we use daily are made from recycled materials. Bottles and containers are commonly manufactured from recycled plastic. Still, it may also be used to make park benches, picnic tables, lawn furniture, playground equipment, and recycling bins. Sleeping bags, backpacks, and carpets are all made from recycled plastic. Recycling materials alone can result in a surprising number of things. As a result, an almost infinite number of objects in daily life may have been something different at one time. This is something to consider while devoting one extra minute to sorting recyclables from trash. The steps of recycling are easy to use and focus on the environment. Our world is a melting pot of recycled goods. It is our responsibility to make this earth more beautiful through recycling.
Anybody can recycle, whether you’re very young or a lot older. Different businesses, communities, and households use recycling to improve our environment and control our waste production. Through multiple types of research and tests, human behavior can influence recycling rates by a significant margin. There have been advances in recycling technology that gives us more options regarding recycling. Those options include RFID technology, GPs readers that were placed in trash cans, or Gasification.
Since the human population is growing, one of many concerns is waste management. Thanks to our technological advancements, we can efficiently and more effectively take recycling to a new level.
Firstly, RFID monitors and calculates our waste collection and recycling pickup efforts. The RFID tags on bins and garbage vehicles track recyclables and the households they came from. The calculations can’t be changed or wrong, making the collection more accurate.
Secondly, GPs readers help track the placements for recycling bins. The GPs readers determine where to place the containers based on the activity of recycling in different areas.
Lastly, Gasification creates clean synthetic gas through the usage of waste for energy production. It replaces fossil fuels, refines oil, and reprocesses waste to produce green diesel. These technologies are three of many methods to recycle the waste we create.
Besides using technology for recycling advancement, we can be more involved by using different methods in our households and daily lives. Once you understand the process of recycling, you can decide on what to recycle and know where to place your recyclables. Before you start recycling, make sure you research the recycling procedures in your city or state area. Next, identify your recyclables with their labeled identification codes, so you’ll know if it needs to be recycled. If any of your recyclables were recently used, clean them thoroughly. Then, separate your recyclables accordingly if your local recycling system requires them. Lastly, know what recyclables to recycling. For example, a pizza box is made of cardboard. But if there’s grease and possibly food stains, it could contaminate other recyclables once it’s been processed. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has made a list on what to recycle and how to correctly recycle them. There are plenty of objects we can’t recycle. Still, if we identify the ones that can be recycled, it’ll help reduce our waste production in the long run.
Recycling helps conserve important raw materials for the future. When recycled materials are used in the manufacturing process, the amount of energy used is comparatively less. Recycling reduces the need for raw materials, thus reducing pollution. It also saves energy that reduces the greenhouse gases released, thereby helping in tackling climate change. When we recycle, less amount of waste is sent to the landfill. Recycling and using recycled products will help you save money. Recycling helps prevent plastic products from ending up in the ocean. When recycled materials are used to make new products, it reduces the need to cut down trees and consume natural resources, thus preserving natural habitats.
There are consequences for not recycling, and one would be pollution. Land, air, water, everything will be polluted. If we threw everything away when it could be recycled, the landfill would fill up and would be unable to cope with this enormous load. It would also create unpleasant smells and end up being toxic from all the harmful chemicals. When we don’t recycle, reuse, and reduce, we destroy natural habitats.
Recycling affects everyone and everything on earth. If we don’t take care of our home, it cannot take care of us. All we know will be destroyed by piles of trash. We shouldn’t sit around and wait for the garbage to disappear on its own. We have to get involve and do it ourselves.
As a reminder, we look forward to you joining us on August 21, 2021, to conduct the Great Georgia Pollinator Census from 10:00am to 12:00pm at the KLB office. Please RSVP at https://bit.ly/pollencensus to ensure we have enough supplies and food.
If you want more information on recycling or on how you can volunteer with Keep Liberty Beautiful, email klcb@libertycountyga.com or call (912) 880-4888. Also, don’t forget to follow us on Facebook @keeplibertybeautiful or website: www.keeplibertybeautiful.org.