“There is no such thing as ‘away’. When we throw anything away it must go somewhere.”
-Annie Leonard
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. These three terms have started gaining a lot of importance these last few years. They go hand-in-hand and are interdependent on each other. Recycling means converting used items or products that are considered useless to us, and then changing them into something completely new, that can be useful to us again. In this way, we are reusing the discarded product and reducing the waste production.
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Read Also : Bioremediation: Environmental Technology for pollution Cleanup
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As the pollution in the environment rises, we need to look for ways to conserve all the resources that we have left. Recycling does not require new raw materials to create a product. It makes use of old products and turns them into something completely new and useful for us. Consider all the books and newspapers that we use every year. That is millions of trees’ worth of paper. Instead of cutting down more trees to make more paper, we can just recycle the paper which we already have. We can find these recycled books in almost all stationery shops now.
https://www.thebostoncalendar.com/events/recycled-paper-making
The average school or college student uses almost four pens per month. So the number of plastic pens used by all the students all around the world would be millions. After their use, these pens are thrown away into trash cans, or dumped in landfills, or they are carelessly dropped on the ground. Plastic is non-biodegradable, and it causes harm to our planet. Also, some stray dogs or cats may accidentally ingest the small parts of these pens. This is a risk to their lives.
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To put an end to this problem, the seed pen was invented. The body of the pen itself is made from recycled paper, not plastic. A big advantage of these pens is that, even if you accidentally lose it or drop it on the ground, the seeds will grow into plants in that place. Different seeds are given in each pen. If you plant these pens, you will have a full-grown vegetable garden in a few months. Seems so much better than buying plastic pens now, doesn’t it?
Plastic products can also be recycled and used as other plastic products. We use plastic cups occasionally when we have parties and functions. After their use, these cups are discarded. Instead of dumping these cups in landfills, many plastic-making companies recycle these cups. The cups are melted at high temperatures, which makes them sterile and safe to use again. This recycled plastic can be molded into various other products, or it can be made into plastic cups again.
What do we usually do with clothes that don’t fit us anymore? We throw them away, right? But if we recycle them, the clothes can continue their useful life, and we can even make some money off them. How you ask? Old jeans can be turned into backpacks or pouches, and they are not that hard to make. Even we can recycle our old jeans at home by watching some DIY videos. We end up having a stylish backpack which we can show off to our friend, or even sell it for a fair price.
“There is no such thing as ‘away’. When we throw anything away it must go somewhere.”
-Annie Leonard
https://betweennapsontheporch.net/25-denim-bags-purses-made-from-recycled-jeans/
We can make a variety of things using old clothes, like rugs, a patchwork quilt, soft toys for pets to play with, and so many more ideas can be found on the internet. If we don’t want to spoil our clothes, we can always donate them to those who need them, or we can sell them in a store that accepts and sell second-hand clothes.
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Read Also : Butterfly numbers plummeting in US west as climate crisis takes toll
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It was found that when factories and industries recycle products, they emit lesser toxic gases into the environment. This can reduce the total amount of carbon emissions worldwide and can even reduce climate change and global warming. In recycling, not many by-products or wastes are produced either, which means that factories don’t need to dump any waste into water bodies, thus saving the lives of countless aquatic animals.
https://www.royalmachinesolutions.ca/recycling-industry/
It may surprise you to know that even our kitchen waste can be recycled. If we build a biogas plant in our backyard, we can just dump the fruit and vegetable waste in it. No oxygen should be allowed in, and the waste must be allowed to ferment. This releases methane and carbon dioxide which we can use as a source of energy. The waste left behind in the biogas plant can be used as fertilizers for our garden as well.
Recycling is a sustainable process because we don’t need many new raw materials to make products. There will not be a lot of waste dumped in landfills either because most materials and products can be recycled or reused. It is not necessary that industries should be the only one’s recycling. We can recycle in our own homes. Almost every object we want to throw away can be reused, even if it is just as a room decor piece.
In this modern world, everything can be accomplished with a single click. We can find ways to recycle our old products just by searching how. There are millions of ideas on the internet. When we take into consideration how much we can change the future of our planet just by recycling our waste, we all want to help. We can save countless lives by throwing our pens, or plastic cups into recycling bins, rather than the normal ones. If we want to feel like a hero, we must first act like one. Save the world one pen at a time. Take the first step.
“If it can’t be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, recycled, or composted, then it should be restricted, designed or removed from production.”
-Pete Seeger
Tags: #ecofriendly, #environment, #getgreengetgrwing, #gngagritech, #greenstoies, #handmade, #recycle, #recycling, #reuse, #sustainability, #upcycling, #waste, #zerowaste
