Recycling is the best way to bring about the green movement in a big way and it also brings in a little bit of money as well! If we do not recycle our things, then most of these non-biodegradable products end up in landfills causing damage to the environment. Hence, recycling is the best way to avoid over filling our land fills and to also reduce our carbon footprint. It has been estimated that millions of tons worth of CO2 emissions are saved every year in the United States because of recycling! This highlights the benefits of recycling and the fact that it should be inculcated as a way of life. Here are seven ways in which we can recycle non-biodegradable products that lead to toxicity in our food chains and by doing so we can make our environment cleaner for our future generations.
1. Pass on the Bottled Water
Make sure that you do not buy packaged mineral water bottles next time you head for your weekly groceries. Plastic water bottles do save you the trouble of refilling bottles, but this effort is well worth it as plastic is one of the major pollutants of today. Not only does the manufacturing of plastic bottles utilize a lot of fossil fuels but 29 billion of these plastic water bottles adding on to landfills aggravate the problem further. These billions of bottles utilize around 17 million barrels of oil, which is sufficient to power one million cars for an entire year! So, if you fill up 1/4 of your water bottle with oil, you will realize that that is the quantity of crude oil that goes into manufacturing this plastic bottle. It is a known fact, that drinking straight out of the faucet as some health concerns, but it would be best if you could take the time out to boil or filter the water and fill up refillable steel bottles for drinking. Do remember that recycling plastic is something that is extremely important. It has also been found that plastic bottles contain a toxic chemical called Bisphenol A or BPA which is released by the bottle whether it is old or new. It is released more when in contact with hot liquids which ultimately disrupts the endocrine system within our bodies, the reproduction system as well as brain development. Hence, plastic is not deemed good for our health either!
2. Recycle wrapping Paper
Many different occasions are celebrated throughout the year such as birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, New Year and so on. Gifts and presents with beautiful wrapping are often exchanged which make the gifts appear extremely attractive. However, it is a pity when the wrapping paper is torn rashly and it ends up in the waste bin which ultimately leads to an enormous volumes of 4 million tons of waste in a year in the US. The gift wrapping paper was founded by Hallmark in 1917 during the Christmas festive season and it has become a tradition since that day for wrapping our gifts in beautiful wrapping paper. However, these days, we use a variety of wrapping paper that are embellished with certain products that make them non-recyclable. Therefore, you can now hand over your wrapping paper to organizations that hold collections of the same on a yearly basis.
3. Recycle hardware and printer supplies
A lot of hardware has now been developed that have eco-friendly features and HP is most certainly a propagator of green practices. HP’s trade-In program and recycling programs show how you can recycle your printing supplies and hardware with various options. The HP Inkjet Cartridges, LaserJet supplies can be recycled by simply requesting the company for postage paid material wile shopping online. The innovative Trade-In Program enables the buyer to exchange used HP or any other branded products in exchange for cash for buying new HP products. However, if your product is not eligible for trade-in, then HP offers other free eco-friendly disposal options
4. Recycle Clothes
Recycling clothes is a brilliant way to start a green lifestyle apart from that, donating clothes to the needy is a great way to resolve their problems. Denim is probably the best and the most durable fabric and a lot can be done with it to create new products. You can try to make a pot holder by using old denim. If you have a lot of clothes in different colors, then you could try a hand at patchwork and make a cool quilt. You could also use the sleeves and other scrap material for cleaning the house. A denim beach bag would also look very happening. Furthermore,you could probably reinvent your old jeans by adding some embellishments and wear them with a new style. Fabric school book covers, photo albums and journals also look very cool! There are many things that you can do with old clothes and you can experiment and share as you create something innovative!
5. Recycle foot wears
Footwear like the flip flops or thongs are pretty delicate at times, and can easily snap through the soles. This footwear is basically made out of rubber which is a number 7 resin, making it unfit for recycling. However, your old and retired flip flops can be put to a good use by creating toys out of them. You can even shred the rubber and use it for stuffing your cushions or even as a packing material. You could also cut our pieces of rubber from your flip flops and place them under heavy machines in order to prevent the floor from scratching.
6. Recycling your old batteries
Old batteries are something that should never be thrown along with other garbage as even dead batteries contain harmful mercury. In order to recycle your old batteries, you should visit Earth 911 or else you should take them to your local waste collection facility that collects hazardous waste. Also, you should try to buy rechargeable batteries to prevent the damages that are caused by regular batteries!
7. Recycle wood furniture
Recycling wooden furniture is a very good way for helping our environment as it helps in concerning our natural resources such as the energy expended in manufacturing the product as well as labor. Apart from that excessive depletion of our trees is leading to a lot of environmental imbalances and saving on wood would help that greatly. Furthermore, bulky furniture occupies a lot of landfill space. Old furniture can be easily transformed to give a unique look altogether.
