Wednesday, 5 June is World Environment Day, and it is one of the United Nation’s most significant days of the year for encouraging worldwide awareness and action regarding the preservation of our environment. It is a day that is of importance to The Glass Recycling Company (TGRC) for increasing South Africans awareness of our planet’s issues.
We often take for granted the air that we breathe. Fresh air is one of nature’s essential and priceless gifts to mankind, and it is for this reason that this year’s theme for World Environment Day is ‘Air Pollution’. As individuals, we can do something about the quality of air that we breathe, by making small changes in our daily behavior.
Air pollution is a major global crisis. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), nine out of 10 people worldwide, breathe air containing a high level of pollutants. Air pollution occurs when harmful or excessive quantities of substances including gases, particles, and biological molecules are introduced into the Earth’s atmosphere and makes it difficult for all living beings to survive, due to contamination.
There is an increasing number of countries implementing strict regulations to protect the environment and reduce pollution. But with that being said, there is still a lot to do on an individual or personal level. Recycling glass makes a difference to carbon reduction, as it takes less energy to produce new glass packaging from used glass. Recycling glass reduces both your carbon footprint and your energy usage.
TGRC has created a list of a few helpful tips to help you make a difference this World Environment Day:
- Social Media Participation
Use your social media platforms on the day to initiate conversation about World Environment Day, and encourage followers and friends to recycle and emphasise the need to protect the environment.
- Recycle and buy recycled products
Imagine all of the complex processes needed to create new items from scratch. From mining of raw materials, mined materials then need to be transported, cleaned from impurities, processed and treated until they can finally be transformed into desired products. While reducing the processes in sourcing raw materials by recycling you’ll also be reducing the demand for energy and cutting down on CO2 emissions.
- Make glass recycling a priority
Glass can be recycled endlessly; so be sure to always recycle your glass bottles and jars.
- Separate at source
Keep it simple. If you want your family and especially your children to start recycling, you’ll have more success if you make it an easy and fun activity for them. Place your family’s recycling bins in a high-traffic area, preferably near the rubbish bin. Make sure each bin is clearly marked to help your kids separate waste.
- Familiarise yourself with your nearest glass bank
Make sure you know where to take all your glass bottles and jars in order to recycle them. TGRC places glass banks at convenient locations to allow members of the public to drop off glass for recycling. Schools, shopping centers and service stations offer ideal sites for glass banks.You can locate a glass recycling bank at www.tgrc.co.za or www.facebook.com/TheGlassRecyclingCo
Let’s all reduce global warming, air pollution and carbon emissions by recycling, and a good place to start is to recycle your glass bottles and jars.
