Background -- Chapter 9, Environmental Education Volume

This chapter deals with recycling and reusing items in order to save the environment. The 50-minute lesson begins with a warm-up activity in which students explore the concepts of recycling and reusing. In groups, students then examine and discuss five objects they have selected, and create lists of new and unusual uses for each item. Next, students think of other objects that are or can be recycled or reused. The lesson concludes with a writing activity in which students reflect on what they have learned and individually write up a list of ways on how they can recycle or reuse items in order to help save the environment.

Through the listening, speaking, and writing activities in this lesson, students improve their language skills by learning and using new vocabulary and concepts associated with the theme of recycling and reusing. The four activities outlined in the section on Classroom Applications may be presented in a single 50-minute lesson. The activities may also be combined with some of the materials described in the section on Internet Resources, to create a longer lesson or a unit of related lessons.

Recycling is collecting and treating waste products and discarded materials so that they can be used again to manufacture new products. Aluminum, glass, and paper are some commonly recycled materials. Recycling usually involves four steps:

Collecting: In the collecting stage, used materials like glass, paper, and plastic are collected and taken to a recycling center.
Sorting: This is the stage where materials are separated by type. This is necessary because each material must be recycled in a different way.
Reclaiming: This is the stage in which something is done to the collected materials. Materials that are reusable are separated from those that are not. For example, metals are often melted at this stage.
Reusing: In this stage, the reclaimed materials are used in new products.

Recycling is sometimes a synonym for reusing, especially reusing things in new ways. For example, people might talk about recycling old warehouses as condominiums, or recycling old jars as vases.

Reusing simply means to use something again. In the four-step recycling process, outlined above, reusing means using reclaimed materials in new products. However, reusing can also refer to the practice of using something again—especially in a new way—without changing it in any fundamental way. For example, people might reuse an old coffee container as a planter for a small tree or as a holder for paintbrushes.

Turning used paper back into pulp and then making new paper from that pulp;
Shredding old automobile tires and adding the pieces to asphalt;
Melting aluminum cans, turning the metal into sheets, and using the sheets to make new cans;
Melting discarded plastic items and using the plastic to make new furniture, toys, and videocassettes;
Crushing glass bottles and jars into small pieces and melting them down to make new glass;
Crushing and melting old automobiles and using the steel to make new cars.

Recycling and reusing help the environment by saving space, energy, and natural resources, and by reducing air and water pollution.

When people recycle or reuse things that they would normally throw away, they save outdoor space. Fewer waste products and discarded materials are thrown into crowded city dumps and expanding landfills. More outdoor space is left open for nature, instead of being filled with great mountains of trash.

Making new products from raw materials requires a lot of energy. Recycling used materials so that they can be used again does not require as much energy. For example, when we turn used paper into pulp to make new paper, crush old glass bottles to make new glass, and melt aluminum cans to make new cans, we save energy because the recycling process uses much less energy than it would take to make new paper, glass, or aluminum cans from raw materials. Reusing saves even more energy than recycling, since no energy is required when we simply use things again without changing them.

Recycling is important because fewer raw materials are used and natural resources are saved. Because the recycling process uses old materials to make new products, fewer raw materials are needed. Recycling also saves natural resources because it saves some of the coal, natural gas, wood, or water that would have been used to manufacture new products. Reusing old products instead of buying new ones also saves resources, because no raw materials are needed to create the new products they would have bought.

Recycling reduces air and water pollution because the recycling process requires less energy. This reduces the amount of air pollution produced by power plants and the amount of water pollution produced by chemicals used in the manufacturing process. Reusing reduces air and water pollution even more, because no energy is required to reuse items, and reusing items does not involve the manufacturing process.