Recycling began more than four decades before when a US company planned to design a symbol indicating ‘recycled content’ to customers. It conducted a competition and Gary Anderson won the same. The selected entry was a Mobius strip which is now recognized as a symbol for recycling.

Recycling is not just about reusing plastic bins and used bottles. It is a creative concept which respects nature and ensures reducing waste thrown and disposed by individuals.

The attitude of "reduce, reuse and recycle" is spreading among the masses today. Reduce stands for bringing down the quantity of consumption by shifting to well-designed products and services. Reusing is all about exploring constructive and creative uses of materials which we would otherwise throw as waste. Recycling is a method of reusing the thrown out waste by processing it and giving it back to the individuals.

There are various instructions for recycling. You cannot throw every type of plastic into the recycling bin. You should follow the instructions carefully before throwing the materials for recycling. In addition to cooperating for the recycling measures, it is even more important for people to shift in buying recycled materials.

Use environmental friendly materials for daily use. For example, eco friendly toys can be used for babies rather than toys made of synthetic materials. Water-based paints or dyes can be used rather than synthetic paints for art works.

Recycling not only involves plastic but also natural sources like water. Try and harvest rain water by rearranging you plumbing mechanisms. Rain water or non-reusable water which gets disposed from your shower or bath tub can be reused to flush toilets or water your gardens. Create rain gardens in your yard to reduce the amount of watering required for your plants. The garden takes care of watering the surrounding plants after a heavy rainfall.

To reduce water consumption at home, install low-flow water saving fixtures and low-flow toilets. Replacing these would save gallons of water and bring down the cost incurred on water every month.

Recycle your garden wastes by creating natural composts. These biodegradable wastes can be reused as manures, and synthetic fertilizers can be avoided thus making your vegetables farm fresh and tastier. You can also save the money for gardening. Dead leaves from the garden, mulch, kitchen wastes like vegetable skins, peels, house scrap like paper napkins and newspapers are excellent sources of manure. Composting eliminates bad smell and is an effective way of disposing kitchen wastes which are biodegradable.

Electronics recycling is a widespread concept these days in urban areas. Rechargeable batteries are recommended than ordinary ones. Non-working electronic parts like computer parts, house appliances, cell phones, are taken and again repaired to create second hand working parts.

While buying any goods from outside, opt for a choice of goods that can be recycled or reused. Choose electronic goods that are upgradeable or repairable so that you do not need to scrap the old ones if any part stops working.

Donate old clothes, non-working goods, outdated objects, boxes and containers instead of throwing them. There may be so many people out there who would really be happy to use them.

Jason Ladock

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