Energy and recycling
The products we recycle, like certain plastics, pop cans, newspapers, glass and cardboard, are used to make new products. Companies using recycled materials will use 30% less energy, because if they didn't use recycled materials, they'd use a lot of a trees - and a lot of energy to cut them down, transport them hundreds of miles and grind them into paper pulp. Recycling makes a difference!
Making aluminium cans from recycled cans takes 95% less energy than making cans from raw aluminium ore.
The energy saved from recycling one ton of paper saves enough energy to power an average household for up to six months, saves 6,000 gallons of water and keeps 272 kg of pollutants out of the air.
How can you help?
Everything you recycle at home and school helps save energy and the environment – so keep up the good work! Use your recycle bins and if they aren’t available, take the materials with you to recycle.
You can keep doing good things for our planet when you're buying things too. The next time you go to the shop, keep an eye out for products that say "Made from recycled materials" on the package.
And one more earth-friendly tip: be sure look for products that don't have a lot of extra packaging. It takes a lot of extra energy to make shrink-wrap, bubble paper and foam noodles and most of it can't be recycled.
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