The recycling icon in the form of a green triangle is often found on various packages. This is a small hint to consumers that they do not throw used bottles, boxes, bottles and cans into a common waste bin with the rest of the waste, but sort it out and recycle it. All this has been done only in order to ensure the maximum preservation of the environment and correctly use the resources available to humanity.
Let's get acquainted with the list of existing recycling icons on the packaging, and also find out why they are needed and why it is important to start the recycling process of used raw materials.
What is recycling
Many people often come across a recycling icon, but not everyone is interested in what it means. Even fewer wonder why this is important.
The word "recycling" means the use of any items or food products again, repeatedly or again. As a rule, new things are made from old things. This allows more ergonomic use of resources (paper, plastic, textiles, metal and glass). Even plastic bags and old electrical appliances can be recycled.
Recycling is important in order to preserve our environment. For this, people can take used things to special institutions or use them for their needs. For example, to make crafts from recycled materials to decorate your home.
In simple words
The recycling icon means that humanity can now use less of Earth’s natural resources, as well as produce even less waste. For example, every day you drink water from disposable bottles and then dispose of them. But imagine how many containers will accumulate during the week, month or year. By wearing a refillable bottle instead, you prevent the accumulation of excess waste!
Few people know that many countries take out garbage outside their territory, and unscrupulous contractors get rid of it by throwing it into the ocean, polluting forests and rivers. Any plastic or electrical devices can decompose for hundreds of years, not to mention the fact that the released substances will poison our water, soil and air.
Interesting fact
The recycling badge may not always be present on any things or objects, but this does not mean that they cannot be sent for secondary use.
A really good example is paper, which is obtained by cutting down a huge number of trees. To make one ton of paper, you have to cut down 17 adult plants, most of which grow from 20 years or more.
To preserve the “lungs" of the planet, you must learn not to buy or use more than you need. Think about how much toilet paper you tear from the roll, how many sheets can be saved if you reduce its consumption or find alternative ways (to hand over old magazines, notebooks and waste paper, buy a bidet).
A bit about recycling
Recycling is the process of using commercially produced and organic materials in a newer way. As a rule, a unique technique of using secondary raw materials can be used for other purposes than the original ones. Recycling can include everything from composting organic materials at the end of the horticultural season to using aluminum cans for new products.
The recycle of garbage helps to alleviate the burden on limited natural resources, as well as minimize the amount of waste that represents a huge number of hectares of landfills and garbage dumps around the world.
Some forms of recycling have been used for centuries, but the arrows in the form of a triangle on various packages began to appear only now. The reason for this is the critical environmental situation on the planet - depletion of resources, pollution and a decrease in the amount of fresh water, the melting of glaciers, and the destruction of the ozone layer.
Farmers often use pruning and dead plants to restore nutrients to the crops. This fact may surprise many people, but even the soil can become barren. At the end of the growing season, harvesting and removal of plants occurs. They are added to the compost heap. As organic material breaks down, soil fertilizer will be produced.
This continuous cycle helps ensure that the upcoming season leads to a successful harvest and its harvest. That is why many farmers are asked not to throw away, for example, potato peelings, which can be put on animal feed and fertilizer. However, you will not find a symbol on recycling in any root crop.
Who does this
The main problem in Russia is the lack of recycling. People as they threw a garbage bag containing batteries, and light bulbs, and half-eaten pasta in one tank, continue to do so. The bottom line is that in Russia there are very few processing centers that would regularly (every day or every few days) come to all cities and settlements, taking raw materials for recycling. Only in larger cities can you see small containers for plastic bottles, glass or batteries.
For example, Switzerland is one of the few countries that has instilled in people a love of nature and the Earth. In this place there is practically no garbage that would go to a landfill. Plastic bottles are processed several times to make containers for drinks again, and when the raw material becomes unsuitable for consumers, it is sent to power plants to provide energy to entire cities. There, people understand how important this is, therefore they are not lazy and pack up the waste in containers specially designed for them.
Existing characters
You can find all these recycling icons on various packages, but how to decipher the information and apply it in life?
- Green dot. Such a mark does not necessarily mean that the packaging is recyclable, whether it will be sent for recycling or is already a previously used raw material. This is a symbol used on products in some European countries. A green dot indicates that the producer has made a financial contribution to ecosystem restoration.
- Potentially recyclable plastic with codes. This mark is placed on the packaging to identify the material used in the manufacture of any packaging. There are seven codes in total, each hiding a certain meaning in itself. For example, if you notice the number 1 in the triangle, it means that the manufacturer uses plastic, which is designed to store products such as oil, soft drinks or water.
- Glass. If you saw a triangle symbol that depicts a man throwing a bottle into a trash can, then know that he encourages you to take the container to recycling. As a rule, glass containers are available in all cities of Russia.
“Moebius loop”
The “Moebius loop” is a popular symbol that you can find on the packaging. Sometimes a person notices the inscription Recycled Recycled on the packaging, which means only one thing - this container has already been recycled or is a secondary raw material for recycling. Sometimes a percentage is placed next to the “Moebius loop”, which means how much material already used has been included in this package. And some manufacturers even give hints to attentive consumers, recalling that even an ordinary cardboard box of juice can be an excellent waste paper.
How to help the environment
Recycling may include the process of reusing a used item to give it a new life. For example, a small dining table can be changed into a coffee table, and for this only reduce the length of the legs, change the color and shape (if desired).
Jeans can be converted into a backpack or purse, while old bath towels can easily be turned into rags for washing a car. The reorientation of things is one of the most common ways of disposing of waste and is often used by people who are not involved in other forms of recycling.
