Facts About the Environment

Recycling
Recycling is the third R of the three R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle. Recycling means taking a product or material at the end of its useful life and turning it into a usable raw material to make another product.

In 1999, recycling and composting activities prevented about 64 million tons of material from ending up in landfills. Today this country recycles 32% of its waste.

50% of all paper, 34% of all plastic soft drink bottles, 45% of all aluminum cans, 63% of all steel packaging and 67% of all major appliances are now recycled.

Electronics
New technology has revolutionized our lifestyles with telephones, radios, TVs, computers and cell phones. These items make up the large majority of electronics that threaten the environment because of the dangerous elements in them. Reusing and recycling prevents electronics from reaching landfills.

Water
Water is one of the simplest things on Earth and one of the most precious. All living creatures need water in order to survive. More than half of the human body is made up of water. Human bodies need about 8 glasses of water a day and much of it comes from the water we drink. We also need water for showering, washing cars, watering lawns and for manufacturing. Waterways let us move materials and people on large boats and ships.

The problem is that we aren’t treating water very carefully. About ¾ of the Earth is covered with water and much of it isn’t very healthy. Only 3% is fresh water and only 1% is available for drinking. Most fresh water comes from ice caps which are frozen.

All water starts out good, but much of it becomes polluted. Most of the time it is people that cause the water to become unhealthy. We put chemicals on our lawns, down drains and in our lakes and we put human and animal waste into our waterways. Did you know that when rain falls through the pollution in the air it becomes acid rain?

Some of the biggest water wasters in your home include the toilet, the shower or bathtub, and the kitchen sink through washing dishes.

Waste
Waste is all of the stuff we buy and don’t use. It’s the leftover packaging like pop cartons, cereal boxes, and juice boxes. It’s the trash that remains after industry creates a product. Or, it’s the old stuff we can’t use anymore like old tires. We put all of this trash in landfills (garbage dumps) that use up thousands of acres of land. We burn it and we even ship it to other parts of the world. In Canada and the United States we throw away 50 million pounds of toothbrushes each year and that’s just a tiny little part of all the trash we create. We are running out of places to put all of our waste!

What can you do to help?  
Buy only what you really need and choose products that have very little packaging. 
Choose items you can reuse like washable dishes and reusable shopping and lunch bags. 
Compost your plants, grass and leaves – compost becomes soil and acts like fertilizer. 
Always recycle plastic, paper and metal. 
Always shop for products that are made out of recycled material. 

One kind of trash that is really bad for humans, animals and the planet is called “hazardous waste”. That means it is poisonous or toxic. Many of these toxic products are bought everyday in the form of cleaning supplies, pest-control products, paints and wood-treatment. Look for labels that say “non-toxic” and you will be helping your family and the environment!

What’s In Our Garbage?
38.1% Paper
12.2% Yard Waste
10.9% Food Waste
10.5% Plastics
7.8% Metals
6.6% Rubber, Leather
5.5% Glass
5.3% Wood
3.2% Other