Teaching Kids Everything They Need To Know About Recycling

We often fail to include our kids in the process of recycling, and that’s a huge mistake. It’s something they can enjoy with you if you take the time to teach them about it.

To teach children how to recycle different materials, we must first teach them how to prepare them for recycling by cleaning them from other substances and elements. Each material requires a different type of preparation and a particular way of sorting it in their designated containers.

If you follow a few of these simple instructions, both you and your kids will play an important part of keeping the recycling circle going in your community, and you can enjoy the fruits of your labor together.

Teaching kids about what goes where

We don't need to build a plastic washing line to understand how recycling workd: the recycling process begins with waste separation that’s done at your home in order to place them in the appropriate containers. These recycling containers have different colors on them to help you distinguish them more easily:

• Green containers: for glass
• Yellow containers: for plastic
• Blue Containers: for paper and cardboard

In addition to these three basic colors, every municipality or county can have other ones added if there’s a need for more specialized containers. In many cities you can also find places called “green points”. These are places with separate containers that are used for depositing toxic or other hazardous materials such as batteries, oils, appliances and other dangerous debris.

How to recycle different materials

Fabric

There are some basic rules when it comes to recycling fabric:

• Any old clothes you want to donate have to be cleaned and ironed with all the tears sewn.
• Any pieces of fabric you want to make rags from must be cleaned, regardless of size.
• All buttons, zippers and other decorations must be removed from fabrics that are to be recycled
• Separate all nylon, polyester or other synthetic material from natural ones

Plastic

• All plastic that is to be recycled has to be classified according to its type
• Pieces can be whole, and they can be broken, but they must never be dirty or contaminated
• All plastic should be rechecked again before being put in a recycling container

Glass

• All glass should be sorted according to its color, as that’s what determines its type
• All glass meant for recycling should be completely clean
• All other components such as corks, caps, threads, labels and wax should be removed
• All bottles should be checked before they’re recycled to see if they’re returnable. If this is the case, they don’t require recycling and can just be disinfected and refilled.

Paper and cardboard

• All paper and cardboard you collect for recycling should be packed and ties, and shouldn’t be wet or wrinkled
• All paper should be sorted according to its type: whether it’s newspapers, magazines, office paper, printing paper, cardboard, etc.
• Avoid tearing, wrinkling and wetting the paper.
• If possible, separate paper from cardboard
• No carbon paper or cellophane should be packed along with the paper

A Few Facts About Plastic

• 
  
  
  
  Did you know that plastic bottles and containers that get thrown into rivers and lakes pose a serious threat to the environment as they can take up to a thousand years to decompose? They can cause irreparable damage to the entire eco-system they end up in.
• Did you know that fish and birds are most likely to ingest pieces of plastic that get thrown into different bodies of water? In rare cases the pieces pass through their intestinal tracts and do little damage, but in most cases the animals die from suffocation. The saddest thing is that many of the fish and other wildlife that accidentally eat pieces of plastic don’t die instantly. They often suffer a horrible slow death from starvation because the pieces block their intestines.
• WSPA is an international non-profit NGO that recently issued a report filled with estimates of plastic-induced wildlife deaths. The numbers are staggering, and go as high as 70% of all deaths.
• The United Nations issued a warning saying that for every square kilometer of sea water there are about 18,000 pieces of plastic debris floating. There’s so much debris in the water, that an artificial island made entirely of garbage was made. It’s called the Great Pacific Garbage Reef and it’s doing immeasurable amounts of damage to both the climate and the wildlife.
  
  
  
  
  
• The UNEP (The United Nations Environment Program) constantly warns people about the dangers of plastic pollution and often hold workshops and conferences to help spread awareness of this issue.
• Of all the waste that’s made on Earth in one year, between 60% and 80% ends up in water. And no body of water is an exception here – oceans, seas, rivers, lakes and even small creeks get polluted the same.
• You could say that everything that goes around – comes around! The Journal of Scientific Reports recently published a study that says that plastic waste and other synthetic fibers that are disposed of in water end up as parts of the food chain in oceans. That means that a big part of all seafood that reaches your grocery stores has probably fed on plastic at some point.
• Your actions as an individual play a great part in larger conservation efforts. You can contribute to saving the environment by recycling all the plastic you have and buy. You’ll be helping your local recycling facilities stay in business and creating a demand for recycled products by buying them. No effort is small enough to make a difference when it comes to recycling.
• If you’re unable to recycle as much as you’d want, there are always things you could do to minimize your production of garbage. You can reuse things instead of throwing them away. Repurposing used or broken household items as decorations is as fun and creative as it is environmentally-friendly.

Recycling Plastic

Nowadays, plastic is the most common material used in all production and manufacturing. The use of plastic has continuously been increasing in the last 30 years and this ever rising demand has caused almost and irreparable damage to the environment. There’s more and more plastic waste generated every day, and because it takes centuries to degrade, it can’t be solved that easily.

That’s because of the specific was plastic is build. You see, plastics are polymers, meaning they are substances formed by long chains of repeating molecules. Because these polymers are mostly synthetic, they’re easy and cheap to make, and also very resistant.

We can’t undo all of the wrong that’s been done, but we can take steps in order to minimize any further damage by always recycling. There are two methods of recycling plastic, used depending on the available facility and the type of plastic that’s getting recycled. It all starts with collecting plastic from designated recycling bins and taking them into recycling plants and facilities. There, they get separated and classified by their respective colors and materials (PET, HDPE, or a mixture) and taken to their designated sectors.

1. Mechanical recycling

This is the most common method of recycling plastic and it’s widespread all over Europe and North America. In involves cutting the plastic into small parts and grains in order to treat them more effectively. Plastic recycling machinery for mechanical recycling consists of three steps: crushing, washing and pelletizing (homogenizing the material). Once all of these steps are completed, the material that comes at the end of the recycling lane gets melted and used to produce new plastic items. Most often the material gets pressed and rolled into large sheets and sent to other factories in large rolls. The downside of this process is that the plastic that gets recycled loses its characteristics over time. This process can only be repeated a couple of times before the obtained material becomes unusable.

2. Chemical recycling

Chemical recycling, as it name says, uses a chemical process to induce the degradation of plastic. By subjecting the collected plastic garbage to extremely high heat and infusing them with decomposing catalysts, the macromolecules are broken into micro molecules called monomers in a matter of hours. These monomers are then used to create new plastic products, and they require a lot less energy than conventional mechanical recycling. This technique is very promising as the plastic that’s created from these monomers can be recycled thousands of times without losing any of its original strength and quality.

Tips for proper waste management

 In order to manage waste successfully and efficiently, all you have to do is put into practice “the three Rs”: reduce, recycle and reuse. These are the basic principles of keeping your pollution as minimal as possible. Here are some tips on how to achieve this, taken from here http://www.mrcpolymers.com/PlasticRecyclingFacts.php.

To Reduce

1. Don’t buy individually packaged food items. You can buy the things your entire family eats, like yoghurt, cereal, crackers and other snack in bulk to reduce the amount of packaging that creates garbage.
2. Drink water from glasses or refillable bottles. It’ll significantly reduce the amount of PET bottles you throw away.
3. Avoid buying products that are made from plastic or any other material that takes thousands of years to degrade. Buy items in paper or cork packaging.
4. Reduce the amount of everyday products you use. Most of the regular household items you have at home are disposed of in landfills and never get recycled. This includes things like ceramics, rubber, yarn, fabric, shoes, brushes, cosmetics, toys made from plastic or polyester, sweets and food wrappers, mirrors, light bulbs, Styrofoam, pens, markers, pencils, erasers, disks, tapes, cellophane, toothbrushes, rakes, foil, etc.
5. When choosing between two or more similar products, choose the one with the least amount of packaging. Avoid any excessive consumption of packaged products, not only because they generate more trash, but because they’re often overpriced.
6. Avoid using plastic bags you get at grocery stores, and opt for cloth or mesh bags. You can carry one with you everywhere you go and can use it almost indefinitely.
7. If you buy just a couple of small and light items, don’t take a bag and carry them in your hands.
8. Buy locally. Whenever you can, buy foods and other items that are produced near the area where you live. You’ll avoid overpaying for unnecessary packaging and transportation.
9. Reduce the amount of aluminum foil and plastic wrap you use. Instead, put the things you’d otherwise wrap in these foils in glass or stainless steel containers. It’ll help your food stay fresh longer, and pose no harm to the environment.
10. Instead of buying cleaning products that are full of dangerous chemicals, make your own at home. Use vinegar with lemon to clean your floors, scrub the sink and disinfect the fridge. You can even add a few drops of any natural flavoring you like to keep your house smelling clean and fresh.
11. Avoid using bug sprays and other insecticides. You can make a pretty effective bug repellent device by combining orange or lemon zest with different herbs. Plant lavender and basil in small pots you decorated with citrus zest and keep them on your window still to repel bugs.

To Reuse:

12. Reuse any glass container or jar you bought other products in. You can also stop buying products in plastic packaging and opt for products that come wrapped in paper.
13. Reuse water bottles and any other plastic bottles.
14. Reuse all your old clothes instead of throwing them away. You can make rags out of torn towels, or even use your old shirts to make trendy cloth bags.
15. Organize second-hand or yard sales with your friends and neighbors. Someone could find a good use for the things you no longer need, and you can use the money the make to donate to charity.
16. Donate your old clothes and furniture to homeless shelters or orphanages.

To Recycle:

17. Place garbage separators in your trash bins. Separating recyclable items from non-recyclable ones will make the whole process much easier, and you’ll get a good overview of how good your recycling habits are.
18. Use cardboard boxes or wooden crates as trash bins. If you separate your trash and dispose of it in these bins, even the organic waste won’t generate any foul odors.
19. Make sure all the plastic and glass items you recycle are clean from any food and dirt. Sometimes these containers get discarded if they contain food remains or are pretty greasy. A quick wash before you put them in the recycling bin should prevent this from happening.
20. Always crush cardboard boxes and plastic bottles so they’ll use up more space. Sometimes the garbage truck gets filled up completely and can’t take all of the trash deposited at recycle bins to the recycling facility.
21. Recycle all the paper you can! Recycling paper requires 60% less energy than making new paper from cellulose, and reduces landfill contamination by up to 50%.
22. When recycling cardboard boxes or crates, make sure you remove any material that’s not paper or cork. Only send them to the recycling facility when you’ve used them up completely and when you’ve made sure you got them clean and decontaminated.
23. Medical waste is a type of waste that originates mostly from the bathroom. It’s advisable to keep it separated from other trash and dispose of it in designated containers. Medical waste includes: disposable diapers, toilet paper, gauze, medication, sanitary towels, used tissues and bandages.
24. Dispose of toxic and hazardous materials safely and carefully. There are many private recycling facilities and plants that offer to dispose of these items for you, and often  have 24/7 hotlines you can ask for help from. Some of these toxic materials include batteries, cell phones and other electronics, LED light bulbs, printer cartridges and toners, motor oils, etc.

5 Tips To Help You Reduce Waste In The Office

Although we never do it on purpose, we create waste everywhere we go. We’re more aware of it while we’re at home because we have to take care of that space on our own. But what about when we’re at work? Whether it’s laziness or just a lack of knowledge about the damage we’re making, I don’t know, but we often make more waste at our workspace. There are some steps you can take to reduce the waste you make at the office without it interfering with your workday.

1. If you’re an avid coffee drinker, buy yourself a real coffee maker!

An office job almost always means coffee – and a lot of it! Most offices are equipped with a single typical capsule coffee machine everybody uses. These capsules are highly polluting because they’re made of aluminum and plastic. On their own, these materials are reusable, but when combined can’t be recycled at all. These capsules go directly into a landfill and take thousands of years to degrade. That’s why you should invest in a real Italian espresso machine. It’ll last a lifetime and the coffee you make will be of superior quality to any plastic office coffee machine.

2. Recycle like you’re at home

There are probably some recycling measures already implemented in your office. But the fact is, you’ll probably just throw everything in the bin next to your desk. If you can’t take a short walk every now and then to throw things into their designated recycling bins, bring them to your table. They don’t have to be industrial recycling bins, just your regular metal ones. You can then separate your thrash right there at your desk and throw them away later. You can also reduce the amount of paper waste by using both sides of a paper, and using old paper and post-its to write additional notes on it.

3. Have some plants around

Well, plants don’t actually reduce the amount of garbage you make, but they do a great job of cleaning the air. Not only will it make any space look more calming and welcoming, it can help you feel closer to nature. Office air can get stale pretty quickly, and plants act as natural air-fresheners.

4. Save energy!

Replace all of the light bulbs at your workspace with energy-saving LED bulbs. Always turn off any light you don’t need or use to avoid using up unnecessary energy. Unplug your computer, printers, phones and other hardware when you finish work. You won’t need them and they suck up electricity even when they’re turned off. At the end of the work week, try unplugging all of the machines and appliances in your office to see how it’ll affect your electricity bills. In addition to saving energy and money, it’ll save you from losing any data if there’s a power outage or a system overload in your absence/

5. Make your office supplies more sustainable

Pencils, pens, scissors, staples, tape, and other office supplies are the things that get hoarded the most. They rarely get completely used up before you discard them, and they make the majority of all office trash. They can also often be an unnecessary strain to the office budget. That’s why you should create a designated place for all extra office supplies in your office. Use a cupboard or other storage elements that are near the common spaces in your office. Everybody can then clean up their desks and put everything they don’t need in this designated space. That way, everybody can take what they need from these instead of always reaching out to the storage closet. You can even reuse some things that are just lying around the office, like cans and bins to use them to store pens and staples. You can even start buying all your supplies from manufacturers that only use recycled materials. They look better and are more sustainable, just take a look here.

As you can see, keeping your office eco-friendly isn’t as hard as it might seem. Both you and your coworkers should take care of the place you spend a quarter of your day in. Neither one of these steps is a nuisance, and it will really be worth the effort.