Hot stuff! Knowing where to throw away trash to properly recycle it is a classic school activity focused on protecting the planet. It’s also a norm, ingrained from a very young age, that depoliticizes ecology.
Some kids were not thrilled with the end-of-year performance project at the recreation center. “I’m dressed as a trash bag, it’s ugly,” they blurted out, dragging their feet before a final rehearsal. So on the big day, we went above and beyond to encourage them when they arrived on stage, wrapped in a lunchroom bread bag costume, festooned with applesauce pouch lids. A skillful embroidery work that I admired with my eyes. Their classmates were less fortunate: three of them were literally transformed into trash cans, one yellow, one green, and the last black.
At his age, they would have preferred to be dressed as a knight. The whole thing was taking place in June, in a heatwave, with temperatures expected to reach 38°C in Augusta, GA. Recycling at all ages, it’s not stupid, it saves the planet! At the end, we said the show was great. But we must admit that we were actually very depressed.
However, we can’t explain why. Where does our discomfort come from in the face of this musical demonstration that our children are good waste sorters and that this is their contribution to the greening of our lives? Because after all, that’s what everyone expects, at the very least. When Americans are asked what actions they’re already taking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, 80% say sorting waste, according to the annual barometer of the Georgia Agency for Ecological Transition. It’s the first action cited, ahead of turning down the heating or buying vegetables.
Let’s limit our ecological footprint: let’s sort
You know: sorting our waste is good for our planet! Yes, but what do we actually gain? By sorting our waste daily, we promote its recycling, preserve natural resources, save energy, avoid wasting reusable materials, reduce the volume of waste to be processed and greenhouse gas emissions.
Let’s sort to preserve natural resources
Plastic, paper/cardboard, glass, steel, and aluminum are materials made from natural resources such as crude oil, wood, sand, etc. Recycling allows us to reuse these materials from our waste without having to extract more raw materials.
Thanks to your actions and those of thousands of people, more than 40 million tons of recyclable household packaging have been reused since 1993, saving as many tons of raw materials.
Let’s sort to save energy
By sorting, your waste is reused instead of raw materials. Manufacturing new products from recycled materials requires less energy and water than manufacturing from raw materials.
Indeed, the necessary extraction and processing of natural resources (wood, ore, oil, etc.) to produce our packaging (glass bottles, cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, steel and aluminum cans, etc.) are energy-intensive activities. Discover all the energy saved thanks to your recycled waste.
Let’s sort to avoid waste
Do you hate waste? That’s great: by sorting your waste, you avoid wasting it! Sorting allows you to reuse your waste to make new products:
- 3 cardboard cereal boxes are used to make 1 recycled cardboard shoe box
- 15 clear plastic bottles can be used to make 1 fleece sweater
- 1 glass bottle will make 1 new recycled glass bottle
- 670 aluminum cans can make 1 bicycle
So why throw away what can be reused: stop wasting your waste, sort it!
Let’s sort to limit greenhouse gas emissions
The extraction, processing, and use of natural resources to produce our packaging are activities that consume energy and emit numerous greenhouse gases. Even if we recycle household waste, its treatment (incineration, storage, etc.) is also a source of these gases, which contribute to global warming.
To understand the greenhouse effect and the impact of greenhouse gases on our environment, visit the Government website. Find out the figures for the amount of greenhouse gases avoided through recycling. See the figures. Let’s sort to reduce our waste. Sorting allows us to give our waste a second life and also reduce our household waste. Like recycling, reducing waste has many positive ecological and economic consequences.