7.30.2008

Kids Recycling Center

*Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild the
entire commercial airline fleet every six months*



Our new system

*Every ton of recycled paper saves
17 forty foot Douglas Fir trees*


Zane and Audrey have been wanting to get more involved in the recycling process so I let them build a "recycling center" today. We went to the hardware store and they picked out the tubs to sort the recyclables. Of course, they had to be all different colors :) And we added labels to each one. Zane was very helpful with the letters and Audrey was excited to sort the bottles and cans into their new "homes."

*Up to 90% of recycled glass can be reused to make
new glass items, such as bottles and jars
*


The happy recycler!

*Thirty-six recycled bottles can
make one square yard of carpet*


I have been wanting to do this for a while because we had been using one tub for everything and it just wasn't working for us. This way they can work on letter recognition and being helpful around the house.

*Paper takes up as much as
50% of all landfill space*

After we divided everything up our tubs were already full so off we went to the local Recycle Center. This was their favorite part. They were able to throw the cans in a small opening and thought it was a great new game of basketball. They also loved dropping the glass into it's place and listing to it crash to the bottom. It just puts a smile on my face to see them enjoying this so much. I hope they continue helping "mother earth" long after I am gone.

*Recycling a 1-gallon plastic milk jug will save enough
energy to keep a 100-watt bulb burning for 11 hours
*

One last tidbit for you:
Home recycling requires a trivial amount of time, yet offers substantial benefits to the homeowner as well as the environment. According to the EPA, the national recycling rate is just 30%. Increasing that to 60% in the US could save the equivalent of 315 million barrels of oil per year!! Think about that, recycling can help us break free from our dependence on foreign oil. I never knew that. I bet more people would recycle if the news actually reported facts people could understand.

Ta Ta for now

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