Why Do I Need to Recycle?
LESSON 1
Recycling Benefits Everyone
The earth has a limited amount of space with limited resources that must sustain
us all. We cannot keep wasting our resources and polluting our land! Recycling
is the answer. When we recycle our newspapers, bottles and cans, we are saving
these materials for future use. When you waste these materials, you could be
trashing your grandchildren’s future!
Recycling conserves energy as well as resources. Recycling one ton of paper
saves 4,100 kilowatts of electricity. There are also economical reasons for
recycling. Recycling reduces waste disposal costs and creates employment
opportunities.
What Can Be Recycled?
These are just a FEW of the many things that can be recycled and/or reused:
 Plastic
 Paper (newspaper, office/school paper, corrugated cardboard, magazines,
catalogs, telephone directories and unwanted "junk" mail)
 Aluminum
 Tin and steel cans
 Glass (clear and colored)
 Yard waste
 Computers and other electronics
 Motor oil
 Car batteries
Recycling Conserves Energy
We all know that people produce a lot waste and that it’s necessary to recycle as
much as we can to keep from filling up our nation’s landfills too quickly. But did
you also know that the simple act of recycling saves as much as 95 percent
of energy?
Preserving our planet’s natural resources and promoting a healthy environment
depend on our efforts to conserve energy. Recycling is just one of the many
things you can do to stay energy efficient.
Did you know?
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Recycling 1 aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for 3 hours.
Recycling 1 glass container saves enough energy to light a 100-watt
bulb for 4 hours.
Production of recycled paper saves 60 percent more energy than
production of virgin, or new, paper.
Production of recycled aluminum saves 95 percent more energy than
virgin, or new, aluminum.
Production of recycled glass saves 50 percent more
energy than virgin glass
.
How Long Will Litter Last?
Aluminum cans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500 years
Glass bottles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,000,000 years
Plastic bags. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 - 20 years
Plastic jug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,000,000 years
Tin soup can. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80 - 100 years
Disposable diaper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500 years
Rubber boot sole. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 - 80 years
Leather. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 years
Wool sock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 year
Orange and banana peels. . . . . . . . . . . . 3- 4 weeks
Cigarette butts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1- 5 years
How Do You Recycle?
By now, we all know that recycling benefits everyone, but are there specific
guidelines about what should or should not be recycled? Contact your local
recycler for specific details in your area, but below are some things to keep in
mind when recycling:
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Make sure things are clean. Rinse bottles and cans, and keeping boxes
out of the weather makes them easier to process.
Pay attention to what goes into your bin. A cereal box would be great, but
a greasy pizza box might not be best.
Make sure you take the caps off of plastic jugs and bottles.
Instead of throwing out your yard waste, create a mulch pile to save
room in the landfill.
Things you probably won’t want to recycle: styrofoam, light bulbs,
food-soiled paper, wax paper, and ceramics.
Did You Know?
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All steel products are 100 percent recyclable.
Recycling aluminum reduces energy use by 90 percent.
Recycling paper reduces air pollution by 74 percent.
For every pound of recycled PET flake used, energy
use is reduced by 84 percent and greenhouse gas
emissions are reduced by 71 percent.
Word Jumble
Can you find these words?
ALUMINUM CANS
ASPHALT
BRASS
CARS
CONCRETE
COOPER
GLASS
GOLD
OFFICE PAPER
IRON
JARS
LEAD
LEAVES
METALS
MOTOR OIL
NEWSPAPER
ZINC
PAPER
PLASTICS
RAGS
STEEL
TIN CANS
TIRES
WOOD
D
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Decode the Message
Solve the following math problems. Then find the
letter in the key that matches the answer to solve
the coded message.
24 + 34 = ______ I
53 – 38 = ______ L
16 + 16 = ______ K
91 – 39 = ______ D
33 + 32 = ______ N
77 – 65 = ______ E
19 + 3 = ______ O
91 – 15 = ______ P
42 + 21 = ______ C
34 – 15 = ______ R
11 + 7 = ______ F
88 – 41 = ______ S
17 + 22 = ______ G
52 – 25 = ______ A
53 + 39 = ______ T
72 – 31 = ______ B
47 + 26 = ______ U
28 – 12 = ______ Y
______________
____________________
________
52 22 65 92
18 22 19 39 12 92
92 22
__________
_________________________________
41 73 16
19 12 63 16 63 15 12 52
_________________________________ !
76 19 22 52 73 63 92 47
!!
MakE Recycled Paper
Make Your Own Recycled Paper
1. Gather up several sheets of old newspaper and tear it into
little pieces.
2. Place the pieces of paper in a
blender.
3. Add hot water and let the mixture
sit for about 10 minutes.
4. Turn on the blender and blend the
5. paper mixture up really
well.
6. Take a coat hanger and bend it to form a
somewhat round loop.
7. Cover the hanger loop with an old nylon stocking. This will
be the ‘screen’.
8. Place the ‘screen’ over the mixing bowl and pour the liquid
mixture onto the screen. Let this sit for a while until all of the
liquid has finished draining into the bowl.
9. Now place the ‘screen’ between two sheets of paper towels.
10. Take this paper towel sandwich and place it on the cutting
board.
11. Iron out the paper towels.
12. Remove the paper towels and peel the paper off of the
screen.
How paper is made from
recycled paper:
1. Waste paper is collected,
sorted, baled and transported
to a paper recycling plant. You
can help by sorting paper and
keeping it dry and out of the
sun (water and sunlight make it
harder to remove ink).
2. At the paper factory, used
paper is mixed with water in a
huge blender called a
“hydrapulper,” which mixes the
paper with water, pulling inks
away from the paper fibers and
separating the fibers
themselves. De-inking
chemicals are sometimes also
added.
3. The pulp mixture passes
through several different sized
screens, which separate the
paper fibers from paper clips,
staples and other
contaminants.
4. In most cases, the clean pulp
is then mixed with some new
wood pulp to make the
recycled paper stronger.
Recycled paper fibers get
shorter the more often they are
recycled. Most fibers can be
recycled.
5. The clean pulp is pressed into
sheets, dried, finished and
placed onto rolls.
Word jumble
Can you figure out what recycling words are
hidden in each line?
DECUER _____________________________
NMLUIUAMACN _______________________
STOOMCP ___________________________
ULOTNIOPL __________________________
LCYREEC ____________________________
TCPASLI _____________________________
NTVENIORMNE _______________________
LMATE ______________________________
YBU DECCLEYR ______________________
LNLFIADL ___________________________
Recycling slogan
Materials Needed:
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Recycled or Scrap Paper
Scissors
Markers, Crayons, Colored Pencils, Paint
Tape, Glue
Bottled Water
Directions:
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Brainstorm a catchy recycling slogan that reminds everyone to recycle
their used plastic bottles.
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Create labels that include the slogans from the recycled or scrap paper
to fit around each bottle, and tape or glue them to the bottles.
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Give out the water bottles at a school event or to teachers, staff and
students. Also consider selling the water bottles at school sporting
events to raise money toward the school’s recycling program and to
raise awareness of the importance of recycling.
What Happens to the PET Bottles You Recycle?
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19, 20 oz. PET bottles yield enough fiber for an XL tshirt.
19, 20 oz. PET bottles make one square-foot of
carpet.
63, 20 oz. PET bottles make a sweater.
14, 20 oz. PET bottles yield enough fiberfill for a ski
jacket.
114, 20 oz. PET bottles yield enough fiberfill for a
sleeping bag.
Battle of the bottles
Challenge each class to compete against one
another, or challenge another school to see who
can collect the most bottles!
What You Need to Do
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Determine what type of bottles your school will recycle—
glass, plastic, both?
Place containers around your school to hold the bottles.
Set the time constraints—will you collect for a week, a month,
the entire school year?
Educate your students, faculty, staff, families, community, etc. about
the competition, and encourage them to help you collect bottles.
Work with your local recycler to collect your bottles, and if
applicable, reward your class/school for its efforts!
Measure Your Results
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Count the bottles, and determine how many pounds of bottles you
collected.
Average that number to determine how many bottles your class/school
collected each day.
Keep the Competition Going
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Make it a regular competition among classes/schools to help improve
your environmental impact and make a difference in your community.
Expand your competition to include other areas, and enter your program
into the Good Sports Always Recycle school challenge
at www.Eastman.com/GSAR!
Scramble Code
Unscramble the words. Put the bolded-boxed letters into the spaces at the bottom
to find the message!
DECUER
LMATE
LCYREEC
STOOMCP
TCPASLI
EUSRE
ILOTNUOPL
EPRPA
SAGLS
YBUDECCLEYR
If you _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____
,
you use less _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ !
Don’t trash the electronics
Electronic products are made from valuable resources and materials,
including metals, plastics, and glass, all of which require energy to mine and
manufacture. Donating or recycling consumer electronics conserves our
natural resources and avoids air and water pollution, as well as greenhouse
gas emissions that are caused by manufacturing raw materials.
Did you know?
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80 to 85% of electronic products were discarded in landfills or
incinerators, which can release certain toxics into the air.
E-waste represents 2% of America's trash in landfills, but it equals
70% of overall toxic waste. The extreme amount of lead in electronics
alone causes damage in the central and peripheral nervous systems,
the blood and the kidneys.
20 to 50 million metric tons of e-waste are disposed worldwide
every year.
Cell phones and other electronic items contain high amounts
of precious metals like gold or silver. Americans dump
phones containing over $60 million in gold/silver every
year.
Only 12.5% of e-waste is currently recycled.
What can you do?
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The next time you go to buy a new laptop, cell
phone or tablet, find an electronics retailer with a
recycling electronics program.
Partner with an electronics recycler in your
area, and start an electronics drive at your school
to collect and recycle unwanted electronics.
Donate old electronics to a charity instead of throwing them away.
Do you really need a new computer? Instead of purchasing
something new, consider upgrading what you have. You’ll save
money and the environment!