Our world is facing one of the biggest environmental threats—the bulk
amount of waste that’s filling up our landfill every day.
Luckily enough, there is one way to minimize the amount of waste in the
landfill—recycling. Recycling refers to the process of reusing waste, may it be solid, liquid, or organic, and converting
them into a useful item instead of discarding them.
Being able to identify the type of waste we produce and appreciate the
importance of recycling will push us to practice recycling and integrate it in
our daily lives.
Different Kinds of Waste
It is important to classify the type of waste before doing recycling since
not all kinds of waste are recyclable. Here is a list of the different kinds of
waste.
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Solid
Type – Solid waste is considered the biggest contributor to waste pollution.
This waste varies from paper, plastic, glass to metal waste. Each type of solid
waste needs different approach when it comes to recycling.
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Liquid
Type – This type of waste is any waste that is not in solid form. Some
liquid waste are liquids used in industries cleaning, wash water from households,
and waste detergents. On the other hand, some solid waste can be converted to liquid waste for disposal purposes.
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Hazardous
Type – Hazardous is a type of waste that is harmful to people and
environment. It has three kinds of waste—corrosive, which can easily eat through
metal, inflammable, which is prone to fire, reactive, which can easily explode,
and toxic, which is poisonous to both human beings and animals.
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Organic
Type – Organic type refers to the waste that comes from animals and plants. This
can be flower trimmings, fruits and vegetable peels, kitchen scraps, and dog
poop, among others. Frequently, organic waste is converted to compost and use as
a fertilizer in gardens.
The Importance of Recycling
Recycling is both beneficial to people and environment. Here are some of
the significant benefits of recycling.
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Recycling aids in minimizing the amount of waste we
send to landfills.
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Making new products requires huge amount of energy.
On the other hand, recycling uses less energy compared to its counterpart.
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Recycling helps in preserving natural resources
since it lessens the need to use new materials.
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Recycling lessens the presence of harmful chemicals
that can be found in landfills.
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Recycling paper products will lessen the need to
cut trees in order to produce papers.
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By recycling papers, air pollution will lessen by
75%.
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Recycling aids in reducing climate change since greenhouse
gases emissions from production and processing goods will be lessen.
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Creates more jobs.
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Preserve and improve the condition of the
environment.
Tackling the threats to environment, such as waste pollution is very
important since it is already alarming and we need to take action on it
immediately. Fortunately, different environmental groups are actively building awareness
through different environmental activities and projects across the globe.
If you want to make this world a better place, make time to educate
yourself about different environmental problems and start involving yourself in
various conservation and protection activities.
About
the author:
Laurel
Santos may be a 24 year old adult but at her core she is just a little girl
full of wonder. She lives in the city and works as a freelance photographer in
the Philippines. She manages a small pet shop inside her village. She has a big
heart for animals, especially stray dogs. She is an avid traveler because she
believes that life is not lived within the borders of your own home. Despite her busy schedule she always finds time
to do one thing that she is very passionate about and that is writing.