EnviroMentality

Most people are familiar with the word recycling. But sometimes we forget that it means more than just throwing the odd pop can into a recycling box.

What does recycling mean?

Recycling is a multi-stage process that describes:

• People saving their recyclables for the curb or depot
• The materials being collected and prepared for market
• Industries buying those materials back
• Transporting shipments of materials to buyers, and
• People buying new products that have been made from recycled materials!

Have you seen this symbol before:

It's called a mobius loop (pronounced: mo-bi-us) and it is recognized around the world. Each arrow stands for the 3 main components of the recycling system:

• The companies that make products and sell them to households and businesses
• People who buy products and separate their recyclable trash, and
• The recycling industry that collects, sorts and processes our recyclable materials, and gets them back to the manufacturers who will make new products from them.

Imagine each arrow supplying goods or materials to the next one. If one arrow stops doing its job, waste will result. It's the continuous cycle that makes the recycling system work.

Is recycling the only answer?

We all know the benefits of recycling, but remember the 3 R's?

Well, recycling is the 3rd 'R' - after reduce and reuse! Recycling is a great thing to do. Of course, it also uses energy and produces waste. For example: think of the fuel that is burned by all the trucks that collect and transport recyclable materials, the heat (energy) needed to melt plastic and aluminum for remanufacturing, and the sludge that results from newspaper de-inking.

So, keep on recycling ... but do these things first:

Reduce the amount of waste you generate. We can ask ourselves some important questions before we buy something new:

• Do we really need it?
• Can we use something else instead?
• Can it be repaired if it breaks?
• Can it be recycled?

Consuming less is still the best way to reduce waste and minimize pollution.

Watch out for packaging

• Don't buy products that are over-packaged.
• Purchase refillable products or products in recyclable containers.
• Don't buy single-serve or convenience packages.

Buy environmentally-friendly products.

• Avoid disposable items such as diapers, paper napkins and cups.
• Purchase durable and repairable goods.
• Make your own non-toxic household cleaning products.

Stay informed!

• Become an advocate for the environment.
• Keep looking for ways to minimize waste to reduce your impact on the environment.

Close the loop by buying recycled products.

• Producing items from recycled materials takes less energy, produces less waste and reduces the need to cut more trees for paper, dig more mines for metal, and process more petroleum for plastic. Wherever possible, it is good to buy products that include recycled content rather than those made from brand new materials alone.

We can all do our part by putting things into our blue box at home and participating in a school or community recycling program. We can Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. And when we decide we really do need to buy a new product, we can look for recycled content and help close the recycling loop.

- that by taking your paints to the local Depot you keep paint out of our many streams and lakes

- that recycling creates jobs in transportation and in the processing of new products

- that over 3 million containers of paint are purchased every year in our province and up to 25% of that paint is never used

- that EARTH DAY is April 22

- that worms help with composting


- that in the past year Nova Scotians have:

• recycled 268 million beverage containers



• recovered over 1.1 million used tires



• recycled 268,000 litres of leftover paint



• composted 83,000 tonnes of organic material



• recycled 46,000 tonnes of recyclable materials through municipal programs



• kept 100,000 tonnes of construction and demolition waste out of landfills



• cleaned up 1594 derelict vehicles from roadsides and properties around the province

Remember: symbols 1 and 2 go in the BLUE!





R... recycle, reuse, reduce as much as you can

E... environment will be destroyed more if you don't

C... community needs to own this issue

Y... young as in never too young to learn about recycling

C... caring is what happens when we do our part

L... learning the lessons to help our planet

I... intelligence is what we use to save the world

N... NOW is the time to start!

G... global is planet Earth which is affected by what we do and do not do today