Ways to Recycle and Reuse Plastic Bottles
It is said that over 40 billion plastic bottles are used each year in America. Since almost 2/3 of it end up in landfills and plastic bottles are non-biodegradable, this has become a serious threat to the environment and to planet earth. To help save planet earth here are several innovative ways to recycle/reuse plastic bottles:
• Plastic bottles to build a home
Unbelievable but true, plastic bottles can be used as construction materials to build a home. This has been done in the countries like the Philippines and Honduras. Houses made of plastic bottles are low-cost and have proven to be durable and can withstand typhoons and other natural calamities that frequently visit these countries. The bottles are filled with mud and bonded together with a cement mixture.
• Chairs and desks from plastic bottles
Plastic bottles can be recycled to produce tables and chairs. In the Philippines, a local TV variety show donates school chairs and desks to public schools from plastic bottles that they gather with the help of their TV audiences and other donors.
In fact Coca – Cola Company and Emeco, a leading furniture maker, have corroborated to produce a chair out of 111 recycled Coca-Cola plastic bottles which is appropriately called “111 Navy Chair”.
• Fun and functional items for the home from plastic bottles
Ordinary citizens like us can also help in the recycling efforts to save Mother Earth. Plastic bottles can be recycled into fun and functional items for the home such as candle holders, champagne glasses, bird feeders, terrariums, pencil cups, hanging lamps, herb pots for a herb garden and a lot more. Let your imagination run wild and come up with ways to reuse/recycle your plastic bottles. There are a lot of fun and functional things that can be made out of these plastic bottles.
Recycling Tips, Substitute Reusable Items for Consumables
The 2nd R in the “Reduce, Reuse Recycle” Waste Hierarchy of Waste Management strategies “is Reuse.” This waste management strategy is easily achievable at home where domestic or household waste comprise of paper, food scraps, yard trimmings, plastic, metals, glass and others. Paper is 28.2% o and plastics 12.3% of total domestic waste. Reducing these numbers will be a big help to the waste management efforts and will be good for the environment. Here are some tips to substituting reusable items for consumables:
• Use rags, sponges, towels for wipe-ups and cleaning
Instead of using paper towels and other disposables for wipe-ups and cleaning, use rags, towels and sponges. Maintain a large supply of wash cloth and rags to ensure that you will have enough clean supply. In the end buying extra kitchen towels and wash cloths to build a supply will come out cheaper than regularly buying disposable substitute such as paper towels. Wash and dry the rags, sponges and towels as often as possible to ensure that no bacteria live on it.
• Substitute paper napkins with cloth napkins
There are inexpensive cloth napkins that you can buy for everyday use. Again, the initial cost of stocking up on cloth napkins will be offset when you lessen the frequency and ultimately stop buying paper napkins.
• Use a reusable shopping bag instead of plastic bags
When you shop bring your reusable shopping rather than have the grocery put them in plastic bags. Your reusable shopping bag can carry more weight than plastic bags, hold more items, protect bottles and glass jars better, will last you a longtime, will lessen trash and save energy and resources.
• Use plastic food container instead of plastic bags
Use plastic food container instead of plastic bags when storing food in the refrigerator and cupboard. They are reusable, last longer than plastic bags, leak free, keep out insects and lessen odor in the refrigerator.
• Use rechargeable batteries rather than disposable batteries
Rechargeable batteries can be used for almost anything, from flash lights to digicams. It will come out cheaper in the long run rather than buying disposable batteries every now and then and are better for the environment.
How to Recycle Paper
Paper recycling is the practice of salvaging waste paper and crafting it into new paper merchandise. The three types of paper that can be recycled are pre-consumer waste, miil broke, and post-consumer waste. As ordinary citizens, what we can recycle at home are the post-consumer waste papers that we generate at home. This will include old newspapers and magazines, computer papers and other office papers, old telephone directories, old corrugated containers, and other residential mixed papers. Don’t throw away your old telephone directory, old newspaper and magazines, computer paper and all other used paper and make your own recycled paper. This will lessen waste at home, save trees and a big help in the efforts to save mother earth.
The things you will need to recycle paper:
• Waste paper – old newspaper and magazines, etc ( cut them into 2-inch squares)
• A blender or food processor
• A wooden frame or wire hanger
• Pair of panty hose or Insect screen
• White glue
• Big water bucket with 4 inches of water
• Flat iron
Here’s how to do it:
• Each piece of paper that you will make needs a frame. It could be a wooden frame or an old wire hanger that you can form into a frame by straightening the hanger and bending it into four-sided frame shape.
• Stretch a panty hose or insect screen flat and tight over the frame
• Use a blender to or food processor to reduce the waste paper into mush, make sure that there is a correct combination of water and paper to keep the machine moving smoothly and until you have all the paper dissolved into a gray mixture of paper pulp
• You can add some color by adding some red or brown onion skin to the mixture while it is being blended
• Transfer the paper pulp into the water pail and add 2 teaspoon of white glue and blend the mixture thoroughly with your hands
• Scoop the mixture with the frame and lift the frame slowly, allowing the water to drip off and drain from the frame.
• Allow the mixture to dry completely under the sun or better yet hang it on a clothesline.
• Slowly peel off the dried paper from the frame
• Iron the paper using the hottest setting to steam out the paper
• Repeat the process to make more paper but be sure to blend the mixture well every time you make another piece of paper.
If you want more color on your paper, you can use food coloring to get the color you want. Texture can also be added to the paper by adding leaves or lint to the mixture while blending the pulp in a food processor or blender.
Tips on Recycling
Recycling is a way of dealing with waste and other used materials by converting them into new products. Recycling is a vital element of the waste reduction efforts and is the third factor of the “Reduce. Reuse, Recycle” waste hierarchy which categorizes waste management approaches according to their benefits in the collective efforts to save mother earth.
Recycling also avoid waste of materials that can still be useful; lessen the utilization of raw materials; decrease the usage of energy; lessen air pollution brought about by burning and water pollution from landfills by decreasing the need for the traditional waste disposal; and decrease greenhouse emissions.
• Practice waste segregation
Set up your home to make recycling simple and trouble free. Maintain separate waste bins or baskets for recyclable materials side by side with your usual waste baskets all around the house. it is less uncomplicated to chuck recyclable materials in a separate basket than it is to delve through the garbage to separate them.
This will also encourage members of the family to participate in the recycling efforts since it will not need the extra effort to search for the recycling bin that may be set in, say the garage or the kitchen.
One area where a waste bin for recyclable materials is very much needed is the bathroom where there are plenty of recyclable materials that can be found such as empty shampoo sachet and bottles, toilet paper tubes, facial tissue and soap boxes.
Other areas in the house that can benefit from a waste recycle bin other than the kitchen, bathroom and garage is the study room or home office.
For organic waste such as food waste, maintain a container or an organic waste tote in your kitchen top and a bigger one underneath the sink. Make sure that the organic waste bin has a lid and properly covered.
• Check if there is curbside pick-up in your area
Most areas in cities have curbside pick-up for recyclable materials. Check with you local public works refuse department what items they are accepting for recycling so that you are properly guided. The usual recyclable items that are accepted are as follows, but some accept more while some accept less:
- Aluminum and steel cans – aerosol cans, beverage cans, food cans
- Aluminum food packaging ( clean) – dinner trays, foil, and pie plates
- Paper – magazines, newspaper, paper cardboard boxes, phone books, office and computer paper, shoe boxes, food boxes, toilet paper and paper towels tubes and more.
- Plastic water and juice bottles
Energy Saving Tips
Energy Saving Tips
The importance of saving mother earth and all its resources cannot be stressed enough. One of mother earth resources that is slowly being depleted is energy. Although there are alternative sources of energy that is being developed such as wind and solar energy, the fact is the greatest source of energy is still fossil fuel. It takes million of years to create and form fossil fuel. At the moment supply or reserves are being used up much faster than it is being formed. Coal, petroleum and natural gas, are fossil fuels. These fossil fuels are non-renewable resources and its production, use and eventual depletion have raised environmental concerns. It is the responsibility of everybody to help conserve energy and save mother earth. There are a lot of ways to help in the energy conservation efforts and these we can all do.
Here are some household tips to help save energy:
Lighting and other household appliances
• Make sure to turn off the lights when they are not in use
• During the daytime open the windows and take advantage of the day light
• Use low energy light bulbs
• Don’t leave appliances such as computers, video and television when not in use
• Unplug charging devices when not in use
• Only switch on the dishwasher when it is full
• Set the washing machine at 40⁰ rather than 60⁰
• Limit the opening and closing of the refrigerator doors
• Position the refrigerator at least several inches away from the wall to allow the motor to breathe and not be overworked. Also, keep it away from heating appliances such as a stove or oven.
• Don’t put hot food in the refrigerator, allow it to cool first.
• If the suction of a refrigerator’s door is weak or damaged, fix or replace it.
• Thaw frozen food inside the refrigerator, rather than using a microwave or thawing it in water. Thawing food helps in the cooling.
• Replace old refrigerators, those that are 10 years older or more. New models have energy saving features and motors that are energy efficient
Heating and cooling the house
• During summer or when the weather is sunny and hot, close the curtains and blinds to keep the house to lessen the need for air conditioning and fans
• In winter or during the colder seasons, keep the doors closed, use weather strips to prevent drafts and don’t leave doors open longer than it will take to get out or in
• If the windows of your home have no double glazing, heat will escape through the windows. Close the curtains at night to keep the heat from escaping
• Lower the temperature of the thermostat an hour before leaving the house of before sleeping
• Set the thermostat one degree lower during the day
• Some areas in the hose such as the staircase, storage spaces, empty rooms and the entry hall do not require heating or at least a lower temperature
• Use alternative source of heat such as a fireplace every once in a while
• Lower the thermostat and wear warm clothing inside the house
• Don’t leave large objects in front of the radiator
