As the technology is advancing day-by-day, people tend to live a happier and easy life. But these luxuries will never remain forever, these are temporary. Though the technology is developing for the betterment of the people, but it has considerable side-effects too. There is a visible growth in environmental pollution levels in last two decades. Air and water pollution has caused serious environmental and health hazards. Air pollution is due to the emission of harmful and deadly fumes in the atmosphere from growing number of autos and factories, while, water pollution is due to loads of industrial wastes being dumped into the sea water. As a result of which not only the human life is seriously affected, but also the plant and animal life is completely disturbed. Also, the severe climatic conditions are because of global warming that is caused due to growing levels of atmospheric pollution. All this will ultimately end our mother earth to ashes. Its time to think seriously about its severe affects in future and save our ‘Globe’.

Most of the people have heard a lot about ‘Recycling’, ut stiil don’t know what exactly it means. Recycling is a method to control ecological pollution and make earth a greener planet. Recycling is to reprocess the old and used materials into fresh and useful products and this actually helps to improve our environment to a great level. Here are some advantages of recycling which in turn has a great impact on nature.

-Preserves the limited natural resources on the earth: Recycling assists in transforming old and unused materials, hence saves useful raw materials that can be used later on in future.

-Saves enery to huge extent: When raw materials are converted to usefulproducts, a lot of energy is needed for its conversion. But recycling helps to save energy as the old products are just reprocessed to newer ones, thereby consuming lesser energy .

-Controlling air and water pollution: Recycling assists in lessening of waste disposal by using effective methods to set out waste products. Thus the waste products are disposed traditionally which helps to reduce air and water pollution.

-Recycling also helps to control green house gas emissions. Thus, the harmful and toxic gases are reduced considerably which helps to keep the atmosphere clean.

-Recycling saves space: The area used for waste disposal landfill sites are dumped with waste products and these get filled up quickly. With effective recycling technique, a lot of space can be used for more constructive purposes.

-Helps to control global warming: As we know the truth that more and more land is been cleared for industries and housing. The oxygen content is considerably reduced from the atmosphere which further leads to global warming. But recycling has helped to save the ecology and control global warming to a great extent.

Thus, it is our duty to increase the awareness and positive impact of recycling which will surely help to save our earth and make earth greener. If every person uses effective ways to recycle waste it will definitely help to improve our ecology. Live life to the fullest and enjoy the greens throughout your life by recycling.

Want to know more about Environmental Information and how Waste Recycling can help save our earth, read our Causes of Global Warming .

Anyone interested in making their lives more green has encountered these terms before.  The problem is, just because an eco-product claims it is compostable, biodegradable, or recyclable doesn’t make it so.  Making the right decisions to green your life in a way that makes sense financially means you need to know the difference between these terms and the impact they can have on your buying decisions.

The most common product you use that uses all three of these terms is plastics.  More than likely you use small wares like cups and utensils, and many products are packaged using plastics like condiments and other food products.  Here are some tips to understanding your options when it comes to plastic products:

Compostable

Compostable plastic products like corn cups have the highest green threshold to reach.  This means any product claiming to be compostable should be viewed with a certain skepticism because it really is hard to make a plastic that conforms to the definition of compostable.

Compostable products break down naturally into carbon dioxide, water, and biomass at the same rate as cellulose or paper (usually about 180 days) in an industrial or municipal composting facility.  Compostable materials do not leave a toxic residue and cannot be distinguished from the rest of the compost after full degradation.

The most important issues in this definition are where the plastic is put to compost and whether any toxic residue is left after degradation.

A municipal or industrial composting facility breaks down composting materials differently than a farm or in-house composting unit.  Plastics are given a compostable designation based on how they degrade in a larger industrial facility, which means they may not be compostable using other methods.

Since the availability of large scale composting facilities is limited, it’s important to know that a compostable plastic may degrade more slowly before deciding if it can be used in a smaller scale compost facility.

PLA and Master-Bi corn starch based plastics are the two most common types of compostable plastics.  However, these resins are also sometimes mixed with inorganic substances to make them more heat resistant or for other purposes, meaning they do not always qualify as compostable.

Plant-based plastics have the added benefit of being “carbon neutral,” meaning that the carbon dioxide emitted to produce them is offset by the carbon dioxide absorbed by the plants used to make the plastic.

Any plastic that leaves a toxic residue after degrading is not compostable but can be designated biodegradable.

Biodegradable

Biodegradable products break down over time into smaller and smaller chunks as a result of the action of agent enzymes produced by bacteria or fungi.  This process can leave behind toxic chemicals and still be designated as biodegradable.

The problem is, no standard exists for the amount of time a product takes to biodegrade.  And no requirement exists for the addition of agents like bacteria to aid the degradation process.

This means that most products are labeled “biodegradable” as a way to promote their supposed environmentally friendly capabilities when in fact most of these products do nothing to help reduce waste or emissions.  Biodegradable sounds good to the consumer but really doesn’t help green your life at all.

If you are looking to improve your green practices, go for compostable products over biodegradable ones whenever you can.

Recyclable

The truth is, just about anything can be recycled, and surely you have seen the little triangle with a number inside it on most plastic products claiming it’s recyclable.

The problem?  The company or local government agency that does your recycling limits what they recycle.

Check with your recycler to verify which types of plastics they accept.  Learning to recycle the right products can be very difficult, but many restaurants have had success with comprehensive recycling programs.

The main ingredient to success is creating a clear set of guidelines and communicating those guidelines to your staff and customers.

What Should You Do?

Compostable products are more expensive to buy.  But in many cases the extra expense can be at least partially recouped through reduced waste disposal.  Leftover food makes up 50% of the waste produced by a typical household.  If this plus compostable plastics like cups were removed from the waste you produce and composted instead, significant savings can be realized.

Chances are the products you use now are biodegradable, so there’s no real benefit in pursuing products that market this designation.  And as long as you’re reducing waste costs, implement a recycling program that saves the types of plastics local recyclers accept and gives you some real credibility when you say “green lifestyle.”