RECYCLING IDEAS TO SHARE WITH YOUR CHILD

1) Avoid using pesticides and other chemicals on your grass and yard. They are harmful to the water we drink, to kids who play on the lawn, and the animals who walk on it.

2) Hold garage sales or donate any old clothes or materials you have to charity.

3) Plant a tree. Trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and produce oxygen that we need to survive.

4) The most recycled product used by consumers in the world today is the automobile. Nearly every car taken off the road is recycled. If all the cars recycled in one year were lined up, the line would circle the earth almost two times.

5) Help organize a recycling drive at your kids school, on your street, in your community, or in your home. It doesn't take much to start. Be sure to separate recyclable materials into different categories like glass, paper, plastics and metals. Find out where your nearest recycling center is by looking in the phone book.

6) If every commuter carried one more passenger daily, we'd save 600,000 gallons (2,271,000 liters) of gas, and keep millions of pounds of pollution out of the atmosphere every year.

7) Biodegradoble means that a material can be naturally broken down and absorbed into the ground or environment. You can test objects to see if they are biodegradoble.

... Collect different objects that you might throw out (ie, a tin can, paper, plastic bag, glass bottle, and potato or apple peeling).

... Go outside and bury each item in a small hole. Mark their sites so you won't forget where they are.

... Give the objects time to degrade--three weeks or so should do it.

... Dig up the items and note your findings.

... Did some break down better than others? Which ones didn't break down?

8) Compost is made of biodegradable material. It usually includes grass clippings, plant trimmings, kitchen scrapes, straw, woodchips and dry leaves. You can buy a compost unit from the local hardware store or make your own out of wire mesh, chicken wire, wood, a garbage can or cement. Your compost should have:

... A lid on top that protects the pile from rain or snow.

... Holes or vents to allow air.

... A way to get the finished compost out.

Put your unit in a level, well-drained area. Cover each layer of organic material with about 2 inches (5 cm) of ordinary soil. Pour water onto the pile until it's about as moist as a wrung out sponge. Turn the pile once a week to get a healthy mix. Your compost pile will begin to heat up and may even feel hot to the touch. Be patient, different material will decompose at different rates. Mix it into the soil and spread evenly throughout the garden. You'll see that compost works just as good as any fertilizer.

9) Did you know that making cans from recycled aluminum cuts related air pollution (such as acid rain) by 95%? We use 100 million steel and tin cans every day.

10) How many paper products that you see are made from recycled paper? Chances are your newspaper, napkins and grocery bags are all made from recycled paper. Take a look at the outside package of different paper products the next time you're in a supermarket, hardware store or fast food restaurant. How many of their products are recycled paper products?

11) Everyone in your house should try to avoid buying things that use too much packaging. It adds up to more trash and probably more non-biodegradable materials.

~Happy Reading~