Did
You Know...
Americans make more than 200
million tons of garbage each year, enough to
fill Bush Stadium from top to bottom twice a day!
It takes a 15-year-old
tree to produce 700 grocery bags.
Where
does the trash go?
When you throw something "away", it doesn't go away!
Trash is either burned, buried, recycled or dumped into rivers
and oceans.
Beginning about 1690,
paper was made in the U.S. from old
rags. Paper production from wood did not begin
until the late 1800s. Early
paper was made in Egypt out of papyrus.
Paper recycling began
in the U.S. in the 1930s
Wastepaper recycling
is big business. In October
of 1997, wastepaper shipments from the U.S. to other countries
totaled almost $76 million.
Disposable diapers
last centuries in landfills. An average baby will go through 8,000
of them!
Recycling a stack of
newspapers just 3
feet high can save one tree.
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...
Everything
Old Is New Again
Old newspapers can
become new newspapers.
Old corrugated boxes
can become new corrugated boxes.
Old printing and writing
paper can become new printing and writing paper, wrapping paper,
and paper used for magazines, books and brochures.
Old scrap paper of
all kinds can be used to make new paper towels and tissues, egg
cartons, fruit trays and flower pots.
Old grocery bags can
become new mail wrappings for magazines and catalogs, new dog
food bags as well as new grocery bags.
Old toy boxes or shoe
boxes can become new cereal and soap boxes, soft drink cartons
and pizza boxes.
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...
Words
and Phrases
Natural
Resources: These are the things that occur naturally
in our environment. All human-made products are initially made
from natural resources. A resource is a source of supply or support.
Nonrenewable
Resources: These are the result of natural geological
processes that take millions of years to complete, such as aluminum,
steel, tin, petroleum and fossil fuels. They cannot be renewed.
Renewable
Resources: These can be renewed or recreated over time,
such as trees that can be replanted. Sometimes, though, renewable
resources are used up faster than they can be renewed. It's especially
important to be resourceful and conserve our resources so this
will not happen!
Pollutants:
These are harmful substances in our air or water. When certain
items are dumped into landfills or burned in incinerators, they
give off pollutants.
Landfill:
This is where much of our trash ends up and is buried. Landfills
are often in low-lying areas where refuse is buried between layers
of earth. The low-lying land would then be "filled"
to ground level or above.
Solid
Waste: This is our garbage. A solid is anything that
has a definite firm shape and volume. Waste is anything thrown
away, especially if it has not been used completely.
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