THE 3 R’S- REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH!!

Every minute, every hour, every day our world is producing more rubbish. Why should we care and what can we do to help? Here are some very good reasons:

If we learn to use the 3 R’s- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle then we are reducing the resources used to make new things. A lot of the resources that we use cannot be replaced and they will eventually run out! Our environment has also been damaged through mining and quarrying which also affects our natural environment.

Recycling uses a lot less energy than making things from scratch and can help to reduce pollution. Recycling old bottles instead of making new ones can reduce pollution by up to 20%. Another way to reduce pollution is to produce bags from recycled polythene rather than make new ones. This will produce only a third of the sulphur dioxide , half of the nitrous oxide and will only use one eighth of the water usually required.

Plastic bags are a huge concern as they can take hundreds of years to decompose and also cause a number of other issues:

• Littering Landscapes and waterways
• Threaten wildlife
• Release toxic gases when burnt

You can help our environment by recycling wherever possible. Here are a few ideas to help you get started.

• Recycle your paper and make sure that you use both sides .
• Ask your Mum to use environmentally friendly shopping bags.
• Use a drink bottle that you can refill every day.
• Pack your lunch in a container that can be reused each day and do not use any other packaging ie: Glad wrap.
• Make sure that you place all of your recyclables in the recycling bin NOT in the rubbish bin.
• Instead of throwing your old things away, see if anyone else would like them. There are always people who can turn your junk into their treasure.
• Try making your own worm farm to help reduce waste.