Save The Earth

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Recycling

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Did U Know?

About 80% of our trash goes to landfills, 10% is incinerated, and 10% is recycled.

What exactly are the 3 ‘R’s? Read on to find out.

The 3 ‘R’s stand for RECYCLE, REUSE, REDUCE, which helps to cut down on the waste produced, as landfills are not that efficient and reliable anymore. The first ‘R’, recycling, is the method of changing unwanted or old materials into new products. In this way, these potential materials will not be turned into garbage. The second ‘R’, reducing is the method of cutting down on the products or materials used if they are unnecessary and not needed. Lesser input will create lesser output. The third ‘R’, reusing is the method of using the same item again, either for the same function or for another. This helps, as we do not need to buy new products to replace the old ones. (More waste will be produced if more products are purchased.)

We will recommend some tips involving the 3 Rs that you can try out, while explaining at the same time how each of these actions will help in saving the Earth.

Why should we practise the 3 ‘R’s? This is because of the fact that they bring many benefits, like helping to produce less waste.

Reason 1: Do you know that in 2006, 251 million of solid waste was produced? Normally, waste is buried at landfills. By practicing the 3 ‘R’s, waste is reduced. Thus, we do not need that much land for burying waste. There are many things we can build on it instead such as parks and buildings. We are running out of space for landfill sites. When a landfill is filled up, we will still have to look for another one. Thus, the 3 ‘R’s is the only solution. If more waste is reduced, we will be able enjoy and use the land for other purposes. If this continues, one day, there will be no more land for disposing waste.

Reason 2: The 3 ‘R’s can also prevent pollution. Compared to factories that create products from scratch, recycling plants produce less pollutant. Thus, recycling helps to reduce pollution. Do not forget the all waste buried at landfill sites may have the possibility of polluting the environment. Reducing waste can cut down on the possibility of contamination. In developing or less developed countries, incinerators may not be that developed, thus air pollution may happened. So, practice the 3 ‘R’s now, for a better environment.

Reason 3: Practicing the 3 ‘R’s can also prevent resource depletion. If we do not practice the 3Rs, new materials will be needed to produce new products. However, if we practice the 3 ‘R’s, there is no need for new resources to be reproduced. Thus, we can save resources. Trees, oil, fossil fuels and metal ores are precious resources. By recycling a ton of paper, 17 trees can be saved! If we continue to waste resources, one day, all of them will be used up and we will have none left.

Reason 4: The 3 ‘R’s can help to conserve energy. Energy is needed to “transform” raw material into products. The energy needed to recycle, reduce and reuse is less than what is needed to change raw materials into products. Therefore, energy can be saved.

Reason 5: The most important reason: MONEY. Money is needed for disposing the waste. MONEY is also needed for producing energy and to stop pollution. Resources need money too. If all of these problems are solved, a lot of money will be saved.

“I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things we could use.”

--- Mother Teresa

References (for Intro of 3'R's)

"Municiple Solid Waste- reduce, reuse, and Recycle." Municiple Solid Waste. 15 nov 2007. US Environmental Protection Agency. 23 Nov 2007 <http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/reduce.htm>.

"Waste minimisation Section." National Environment Agency. National Environment Agency. 23 Nov 2007 <http://app.nea.gov.sg/cms/htdocs/article.asp?pid=1460>.

"Waste Hierarchy." Wikipedia. 29 Oct 2007. Wikimedia Foundation. 30 Nov 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_hierarchy>.

"http://www.earthcarecanada.com/Library/Recycling_Handout.pdf." Environmental Programs and activities for schools. Earth Care Canada. 30 Nov 2007 <http://www.earthcarecanada.com/Library/Recycling_Handout.pdf>.

"Why should i recycle?." Geocities. Geocities. 30 Nov 2007 <http://www.geocities.com/waterbororecyclesite/why_should_i_recycle.htm>.

Pictures:
“Lixo” picture from Wikmedia Commons ,and it is public domain, allowing us to use it. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lixo.jpg >.

“Landfill Hawaii” picture from Wikimedia Commons, Permission to distribute, copy the picture is granted under the GNU free Documentation license. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Landfill_Hawaii.jpg>

References (for Recycling and its methods)

"EIA kids Page- Soild Waste recycling." Energy Information Adminstration. Energy Information Adminstration. 30 Nov 2007 <http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/saving/recycling/
solidwaste/recycling.html>.

"Recycling works! Here's how! What is recycling." PA Department of environemntal Protection. Department of environemntal Protection. 30 Nov 2007 <http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/wm/
RECYCLE/Recywrks/recywrks1.htm>.

"recycling.cfm." DEQ. DEQ. 30 Nov 2007 <http://www.deq.state.id.us/waste/recycling/recycling.cfm>.

"Why should i recycle?." Geocities. Geocities. 30 Nov 2007 <http://www.geocities.com/waterbororecyclesite/why_should_i_recycle.htm>.

"Tips on 3 Rs." National Environmental Angency. National Environmental Angency. 1 Dec 2007 <http://app.nea.gov.sg/cms/htdocs/article.asp?pid=1463#athome>.

"JustGive Guide - Ways to Help." JustGive Guide. JustGive Guide. 1 Dec 2007 <http://www.justgive.org/ways/50waysenvironment.jsp>.

PA department of Environmental protection. Recycling works, here's how, What can be recycled. 1 Dec 2007 <http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/
airwaste/wm/RECYCLE/Recywrks/recywrks2.htm>.

"http://www.nea.gov.sg/cms/rcd/LRguide.pdf." National Environmental Agency. National Environmental Agency. 2 Dec 2007 <http://www.nea.gov.sg/cms/rcd/LRguide.pdf>.

Pictures:
“Recycling Station Oxford” picture from Wikimedia Commons, Permission to distribute, copy the picture is granted under the GNU free Documentation license. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:RecyclingStationOxford20040828.jpg >.

Manila paper Photo from Wikimedia commons, taken by Nathanbeach, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License, allowing us to copy, distribute and transmit the work. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:ManilaPaper.jpg>

Plastic bottles 2Photo from Wikimedia commons, taken by Ettlz, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License, allowing us to copy, distribute and transmit the work. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Plasticbottles2.jpg>

References (for Reusing and its methods)

"How stuffs works "10 things you can do to help save Earth"." How stuffs works. How stuffs works. 1 Dec 2007 <http://people.howstuffworks.com/save-earth-top-ten.htm>.

"Tips on 3 Rs." National Environmental Angency. National Environmental Angency. 1 Dec 2007 <http://app.nea.gov.sg/cms/htdocs/article.asp?pid=1463#athome>.

"JustGive Guide - Ways to Help." JustGive Guide. JustGive Guide. 1 Dec 2007 <http://www.justgive.org/ways/50waysenvironment.jsp>.

"http://www.nea.gov.sg/cms/rcd/LRguide.pdf." National Environmental Agency. National Environmental Agency. 2 Dec 2007 <http://www.nea.gov.sg/cms/rcd/LRguide.pdf>.

Reuse." Wikipedia. 23 Nov 2007. Wikimedia foundation. 4 Dec 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuse>.

Pictures:
“Plastiktuetn” picture from Wikimedia Commons, Permission to distribute, copy the picture is granted under the GNU free Documentation license. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Plastiktueten.jpg >.

“Christmas Tree2” picture from Wikimedia Commons, taken by Raul654, Permission to distribute, copy the picture is granted under the GNU free Documentation license. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Christmas_tree2.jpg >.

“Electric fan” picture from Wikmedia Commons ,and it is public domain, allowing us to use it. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Electric_Fan_720x1070.jpg >.

References (for Reducing and its methods)

"How stuffs works "10 things you can do to help save Earth"." How stuffs works. How stuffs works. 1 Dec 2007 <http://people.howstuffworks.com/save-earth-top-ten.htm>.

"Tips on 3 Rs." National Environmental Angency. National Environmental Angency. 1 Dec 2007 <http://app.nea.gov.sg/cms/htdocs/article.asp?pid=1463#athome>.

"JustGive Guide - Ways to Help." JustGive Guide. JustGive Guide. 1 Dec 2007 <http://www.justgive.org/ways/50waysenvironment.jsp>.

"http://www.nea.gov.sg/cms/rcd/LRguide.pdf." National Environmental Agency. National Environmental Agency. 2 Dec 2007 <http://www.nea.gov.sg/cms/rcd/LRguide.pdf>.

"Waste minimisation." Wikipedia. 13 Nov 2007. Wikimedia foundation. 4 Dec 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduce_%28waste%29>.

"Waste minimisation | Waste." US Environment protection agency. US Environment protection agency. 4 Dec 2007 <http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/minimize/>.

"Waste." Wikiquote. 13 Nov 2007. Wikimedia Foundation. 4 Dec 2007 <http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Waste>.

Pictures:
“Green Bag” picture from Wikmedia Commons ,and it is public domain, allowing us to copy and distribute it. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:GreenBag.jpg >.

“Handkerchief” picture from Wikmedia Commons , and it is public domain, giving us the permission to copy and distribute it. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Handkerchief.jpg>.
“Mixed municipal waste” Photo from Wikimedia commons, taken by Alex Marshall 2004, Clarke Energy Ltd, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License, allowing us to copy, distribute and transmit the work. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mixed_municipal_waste.JPG >

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