Category: Recycling Initiatives

When it comes to conservation efforts, the role of children cannot be understated. They are, after all, the future generation who will be expected to take care of the earth. That is why it is always important to get children interested in environmental conservation, including recycling. For most parents, the challenge is always on how to get children interested in recycling. Some of the tips that work are as follows.

Start Early

Do not wait until the children have become teenagers for you to start introducing them to recycling. As soon as they are actually old enough to understand, you should get them involved in recycling. It does not have to be complicated. Something as simple as telling them their juice bottles go into the recycling bin is good enough to get them started. You can then use positive reinforcement whenever they get the recycling right.

Get Involved

Children are creatures of habit. They also tend to imitate what the grown-ups around them are doing. If you want your child to be involved in recycling, you should lead by example. They should see you getting actively involved in recycling, and it will not take long before they pick it up and start doing it too. Do not expect children to actively take up recycling if you are not leading by example.

Make it Fun

One of the reasons why parents fail in their attempt to introduce children to recycling is because they make things too serious. You can introduce more games, including a competition. Reward the child who has recycled the most, including some games such as having colour coded recycle bins, and other things that will make the children look forward to the recycling activities. You can even plan a trip with the children to a recycling plant so that they fully appreciate the benefits.

Do you ever stop and wonder why recycling is so important? There are a number of good reasons for that. You can find some of them here.

We Are Facing A Worldwide Crisis

Humanity is at a turning point. Due to pollution and destruction of the environment, the future looks bleak.

Anthropogenic global warming, also known as man-made global warming, is a scientific fact. That was made abundantly clear once again in 2013, as the IPCC noted that “climate change is unequivocal”, and that “human influence is at least 95% certain”.

In addition, the American Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that up to as much as 75% of all waste in the states is actually recyclable. Only about 30% is currently recycled though. As a species, we generate almost 22 million tons of food waste each year.

Indeed, as a species, we face a worldwide crisis. And that’s the main reason why recycling matters.

Recycling: A Huge Business Opportunity

Businesses, such as Aim’n, that proactively begin working with recycling will likely end up with competitive advantages. By transforming to sustainable production, their image will improve, and money will be saved.

Recycling: The Obvious Choice For The Future

It is expected that we will begin observing shortages in terms of resources and energy in the future. As such, it is of utmost importance that we begin transforming how we deal with resources and production. By recycling products, not only do we improve environmental affairs. We also save money.

You will agree with me that plastic pollution is a menace. Studies show that by 2020, there will be more plastics in the ocean than fish. This should be a significant cause for alarm and calls for the participation of all stakeholders in the recycling of plastics.

Unfortunately, four top brands are leading when it comes to pollution, thus aggravating matters. This is according to a report by Tearfund, a UK-based Christian relief and development organisation. In the report dubbed “The Burning Question: Will Companies Reduce Their Plastic Use?”, the agency names Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Unilever and PepsiCo as the companies responsible for vast plastic pollution.

The Daily Mail reports that in the research conducted in six countries, the four brands are responsible for over half a million metric tons of plastics that are dumped in landfills, sent to the incinerators or burned in some way.

Coca Cola is the biggest culprit with a 200,000 metric tons plastic pollution footprint followed by Pepsi at 137,000 metric tons. The third is Nestlé with 95,000 metric tons, and Unilever comes in at fourth with 70,000 metric tons. These are annual figures, and that tells you there’s a problem.

In different responses, the four companies seemed to acknowledge the fact that there is a problem. But all promised that they have strategic plans underway to cut down on plastics and embrace recycling in the next five to 10 years.

But it’s not just the companies; we have a responsibility to ensure we collect the plastics we use for proper disposal and recycling.

The new coronavirus pandemic is proving to be a nightmare to businesses, including the recycling industry. In the latest news, the pandemic could spark a shortage of cardboard in the UK and the whole of Europe. This is because most recyclables collection services have been suspended as the world as a whole continues to grapple with the effects of the pandemic.

Now, The Recycling Association is warning that there could be a shortage of fibre and other recyclables that are used to manufacture cardboard. This is because most of the fibre ends up in household bins. In the end, residents resort to ‘backyard burning.’ Recently, there have been more than 12 fire emergencies in Wigan alone that escalated from ‘backyard burning.’

Fibre, which mainly consists of used paper and cardboard, is widely recycled to manufacture packaging cardboards and boxes. With the sudden drop in fibre waste, we are more likely to witness a crisis as essential supplies, including food and medicine, will be hard to package for distribution.

Now, the only hope is for the authorities, in conjunction with the stakeholders and the public, to step in and find ways through which collection services can resume, but obviously, with the necessary measures in place to protect workers.