Energy and Recycling

You already know that recycling helps keep tons of waste out of our landfills. But did you know that recycling helps save energy, too?

The products we recycle, like pop cans, newspapers, glass and cardboard, are used to make new products. Companies that make new products from recycled material use 30 percent less energy. That's because they don't have to process the raw materials from scratch. For example, a company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, called Cedar River Paper makes cardboard boxes by recycling paper products from all over the Midwest. If Cedar River Paper didn’t use recycled materials, they'd use up a lot of a trees – and a lot of energy to cut them down, transport them hundreds of miles and grind them into paper pulp

How can you help?

Everything you recycle at home and school helps save energy and the environment - so keep up the good work!

You can keep doing good when you’re buying things too. The next time you go to the store with your mom or dad, keep an eye out for products that say "Made from recycled..." on the package.

And one more earth-friendly tip: be sure look for products that don't have a lot of extra packaging. It takes a lot of extra energy to make shrink-wrap, bubble paper and Styrofoam peanuts – and most of it can’t be recycled.

Try it yourself!

Sometimes the best fun is homemade. If you can reuse something in the process, it’s all the better!

Make Your Own: Recycled Toys
[PDF format – two pages]