Recycling is the process of making old things usable again.
always recycled, but they did it in a different way. They made the most of what .
they had and then used it again. Nowadays, more things are put in a disposable .
container or the item itself is disposable. This makes the need to recycle today .
even greater than before.
Most people take their trash to a dump and dispose of it. That way it takes .
years and years for it to decompose. Did you know that glass takes 4,000 years to .
decompose? Other people recycle their plastics and glass and papers that .
normally would be sitting around in a dump taking up landfill space. That's .
important because in 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that .
Tennessee's landfills would be at capacity in five to ten years. .
Recycling also saves our natural resources. Every Sunday, the United States .
wastes nearly 90% of the recyclable newspapers. This wastes about 500,000 trees. .
For every ton of paper that is recycled, seventeen trees are saved. Trees are .
also very important to our environment because one tree alone can filter up to .
60 pounds of pollutants from the air each year. .
Recycling saves energy that would be used on making new products. .
Recycling an aluminum can saves enough energy to run a television set for three .
hours. .
As you can see, recycling is important. It saves our natural resources, saves .
energy that it takes to make new products, cuts down on the pollution and saves .
landfill space. .
