index > Today's Earth, Our Future > 7. Let's not be wasteful > Recycling Starts with Collecting
 
Recycling Starts with Collecting"Let's recycle it! By recycling, we can help the environment!" These are phrases you've probably heard before, right? Well, in fact, recycling is necessary because when we throw things away after using them only once, we create the following problems: 1) adding more waste to the overflowing landfills So instead, recycling is about collecting used things and reusing them as materials or fuel--a very important part of protecting the environment and saving resources. Now, let's have a look at recycling from a different angle. Suppose you have a handful of rice or grains of corn in your hand. Tossing them out is simple, isn't it? But if you try to pick up every single grain after you tossed them out, it would be pretty tough, wouldn't it? The same goes for recycling. In many factories in Japan, the waste, such as scraps and other leftover material, are completely recycled. This is because it's easy to collect them since they're all in one place. On the other hand, once the products reach the hands of us consumers, it would be almost impossible to collect all of them after we're finished using them--almost like trying to pick up grains of corn and rice that have been scattered over the whole country! These days, Japan is recycling only about 25% of their juice and milk cartons, about 20% of their plastic food trays, less than 20% of their batteries, and only 40% of their old mobile phones. Most of these items are just thrown out with other garbage, and are never collected.
Since things can't be recycled without being collected, this lack of care goes against our effort to protect the environment and conserve resources. On the other hand, there are some items that are collected and recycled at a higher rate. For example, 85% of steel cans are recycled, and 80% of aluminum cans and glass bottles are also recycled. Why is there a difference between the items with a high recycling rate and those with a low recycling rate? What do you think we can do to raise the rate of collection for these items? If you said, "Since we have to spend so much time and effort to collect things after they're thrown away, we shouldn't be scattering them in the first place!", then you're absolutely right! In terms of solving environmental problems, this thought is much more important than the idea of trying to recycle every single item. Since it's such a difficult task to collect things after they've already been scattered all over the country, it makes much more sense to create a system where we can easily collect the things people don't need anymore, or else products should be designed so that they can be reused. Don't you agree?
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   7. Let's not be wasteful
   
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