The great problems that environmental pollution has caused throughout history due to the excessive consumption of natural resources and the creation of substances that can be very harmful both for the environment and for human beings have forced the appearance of a practice whose main objective is to reuse the available resources to be used in another production process. That is why in this article you will find everything you need to know about recycling and its importance so that you start using this practice if you still do not do it and contribute a little more to caring for the environment.
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What is recycling?
The process that we discussed earlier is recycling and its definition and can be understood as a process that seeks to use raw materials, materials or resources that have already completed their useful life cycle for a new purpose.
It is important to know what recycling is, in order to understand how to apply this process to our day-to-day life and not only be able to better conserve our environment, but also save money on raw materials in the process.
History of recycling
The history of recycling has much more time than we can imagine, and it is a practice that has been used even since prehistory (perhaps under another name). The reuse of resources that have ended their useful life takes place even naturally in the environment (for example, plants rot and create compost).
Why should it be recycled? What is the importance of recycling?
Now that you know what recycling means and just a little of the history, we believe that the importance of recycling and the different reasons why it should be carried out should be well understood.
First let’s talk about recycling and its importance, what could you think if instead of throwing away something that you have had in your home for a long time, that can be used to create something new? Or, for example, what if you could take all the leftovers from home and from your farm and turn them into organic compost?
Recycling is important not only for the care of the environment and as one of the key features of permaculture, it can also save you a lot of money.
The two reasons discussed above and many others are the reasons why we recycle and adapt this practice to our daily lives.
Advantages and benefits of recycling
- Something useful can be created from the waste. Do you have a lot of waste from your last planting? Do you have leftover food at home and don’t want to just throw it away? You can create organic compost from leftovers, from garbage and you can even take advantage of cardboard and other elements.
- Reduces pollution. One of the most important benefits of recycling is that we contribute a grain of sand to the reduction of environmental pollution.
- Natural resources are preserved. Not only can you reduce pollution, you also have the possibility of preserving important natural resources such as trees. Reusing what has already been done allows the reduction of the need to use a greater amount of natural resources in the production of different materials for daily life.
- Less garbage in the world. Do you know how much garbage exists in the world? Thousands and millions of tons, that is why one of the most important advantages of recycling is the notable reduction of garbage that ends up in garbage cemeteries without any use.
How to recycle correctly?
To better understand how to recycle correctly, it is relevant to take into account some characteristics of recycling, for example, it is necessary to know what can be recycled, to know the colors of recycling, the 3R rule, and above all to understand the recycling process and its importance for the environment care.
All about recycling colors and their importance
There are different colors of recycling, this will depend on the type of material being recycled: blue, green, brown, gray, red, yellow, white. In Colombia, from 2021 a new color code will come into force: white, black and green for the separation of waste from the source, in order to simplify the waste separation process and thus be able to generate a greater citizen culture in it sense. We will describe a little more about this below:
- White. The white containers will serve to deposit usable waste such as plastic, glass, metal, paper and cardboard.
- Black. The black containers will be for depositing unusable waste such as toilet paper, napkins, paper and cardboard contaminated with food or metallic paper, among others.
- Green. The green containers will be the ones intended to deposit usable organic waste such as food scraps, agricultural waste, etc.
The rule of 3rs in recycling and its importance
The three Rs rule of recycling simply consists of changing your way of thinking and understanding the importance of Reducing the materials and packaging that we buy from products, Reusing available resources as much as possible and, finally, Recycling what we have left that can be useful .
Now that you have learned how to recycle garbage, we recommend you continue to learn more about practices, techniques and ways of thinking that can change the world, learn more about permaculture, organic agriculture and a way of life that understands that we must give back to the environment environment at least a percentage of what we take away from it daily.