Category — Recycling

Want to do your part to help save the environment? You can participate in the recycling program of your choice in your city or state. Here are some of the different items you can recycle, as well as ways to make your community efforts count.

If you have an old cell phone that you don’t use anymore, you can donate it to a recycling program in your area, so that some of the undamaged parts can be used to create new phones. In some cases, these phones are reprogrammed and given to the less fortunate. Cell phone recycling has even been used to help families with loved ones fighting in Iraq–the phones provided a more effective way for families to communicate with one another. For more information on how you can get involved with this type of recycling program, visit www.grcrecycling.com.

If you use ‘regular’ lightbulbs in your home, you can recycle these as well. The glass and wiring can be used to make new bulbs, and you may even want to switch to using florescent bulbs in your home. These bulbs are much brighter, and don’t use as much energy.

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Are you concerned about the amount of products that are thrown away in your neighborhood, but could be used again? Do you feel that the waste that is collected in your city on a weekly basis is extremely excessive? You may not be able to change the spending or disposing habits of everyone in your neighborhood overnight, but there is one thing you can do to start making a difference–get a recycle bin.

In most cases, you won’t even have to buy the bin; many of the sanitation departments around the country are issuing these bins to households and businesses, in order to encourage recycling. You simply fill the bin with plastic, paper, metal or glass products, and place it curbside on the day your trash is usually picked up. You may also want to request more than one recycle bin so that you can separate all the materials–for example, paper should go in one bin, glass in another, etc.

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Ever wonder where your trash goes after it’s picked up at your front door? More than likely, it is taken to landfills, where it is packed down and stored underground. Hopefully, the majority of the trash will decompose, but there are some materials that will be buried in the landfills forever. Here’s how you can make trash disposal safer in your area.

A landfill is really a depression in the ground that is used for depositing wastes. In some cases, it is built above the ground. When the fill becomes full, it will start to ‘leak’, and this is when it becomes especially hazardous to the environment. It is important to make sure that the landfills in a city or state do not burst or leak, since the wastes will find its way back into the city’s groundwater supply.

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Concern for the environment is continuing to grow, and if you want to know how you can do your part, you can start by taking a trip to the grocery store. When you buy recycled goods, you are supporting other environmentalists just like you who believe that we can save the planet by making wise consumer choices.

Brands like Dixie and Solo, the makers of paper plates, cups, and eating utensils make it easy to buy recycled; the brands offer coupons often on their products, and non of their materials contain CFCs, a hazardous material given off by Styrofoam. You can find smaller cups and plants that are made partially from recycled materials, and you can rinse your plasticware before placing it in the recycle bin so that it can be used again to make more plates, cups, and other picnic accessories.

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When we think of dangerous or toxic waste products, we generally think of the products that factories produce that are harmful to the environment. But did you know that there are a number of household hazardous waste products that we use every day that could be destroying the ozone layer–and our health?

For instance, if you have just finished a home improvement project, and leave certain items like paint or glue around for a long period of time, the fumes could irritate your nasal passages, and could even cause skin irritation and breathing problems. Even things like furniture cleaners, cooking oils, or pesticides can be considered household hazardous waste, so you’ll need to be very careful when you’re disposing of these items. It is probably a good idea to place the discarded items in a separate trash bag, and drive them to your neighborhood’s trash drop-off location if possible. The longer these substances stay in your house, the more they could irritate the nervous or respiratory systems–this is especially dangerous if you have small children living in the house.

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If you are concerned with the lack of recycling that is being done in your city, or if you think that the city’s water supply could stand to be cleaner, you’ll want to get in touch with the environmental services in your area. This department of government is responsible for making sure that each citizen in the area has the best environmental resources available, and your input really could help make a difference.

Clean River programs are one of the responsibilities of Environmental Services. These city officials are commissioned to make sure that the rivers are safe for the wildlife that may be living there, which means making sure that waste is not dumped into the river for disposal. Making sure that the fish that live in these rivers are healthy also protects the people who eat the fish, as well as those who are fishing in various parts of the city or state. The river may also be where parts of the city’s water supply comes from, and if tap, and even bathing water are contaminated with hazardous chemicals, this could be dangerous for the citizens. Respiratory problems, along with increased risk of cancer and high blood pressure can all come from contaminated drinking water, so it’s important for Environmental Services to constantly be checking local rivers and streams for cleanliness.

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The world has suffered from pollution and the improper dumping of hazardous wastes for years now, but there are community groups, governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, and individuals who are doing their part to make sure that our environment is preserved. If you want to keep up with the latest environmental news, here are a couple of resources you may want to refer to.

The Environmental News network is your daily sources for news about the environment, as well as information on natural resources and how you can preserve them. The site contains news articles on how people all over the country–and the world–and caring for the wildlife in their areas, and there is information on how to preserve certain natural resources that we all need, such as water and electricity. You’ll even get information on how you can get your kids involved in recycling and caring for nature. Getting information on different large corporations, such as Shell and Sony will also give you an idea of how to corporate world is working to save the world’s energy. For more information, and to learn how you can get involved, visit www.enn.com.

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