Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

If we want to hug our earth, we need to think about ways to conserve natural resources. Some of those involve reducing what we use, like saving on electricity. If we conserve electricity, we can reduce air pollutants, such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. That means we'll all have cleaner air to breathe.

Another important way to protect our resources is to reuse or recycle materials. What does that have to do with conserving energy? It takes energy to produce materials and goods, like your car, television, newspaper and clothes. If we can reuse or recycle these products, we can save on the amount of energy it takes to produce new materials from scratch.

Have you ever been to a garage sale? That's one form of recycling, where the products can be reused in their same form. Instead of throwing away clothes or household goods, we give someone else a chance to use them. The same is true when we donate used goods to local charities.

If you wonder whether recycling can add up, take a look at these facts.

• A study from the federal Commerce Department shows that we could recycle much more of our waste. Up to 80 percent of the waste we throw away could be recycled and made into other products.
• We throw away 150 million plastic bottles every day in America. Plastic bottles, like 2-liter soda bottles, are easy to recycle and can be used to make other plastic products.
• If Americans would recycle half of the paper we use, we could meet up to 75 percent of the demand for new paper. That would save more than 17 million acres of forest land.
• Only about 2.5 percent of the glass manufactured in the United States is recycled. We produce 40 billion jars and bottles each year. Just think if we would recycle even 10 percent of those bottles how much glass from raw materials could be saved.

Kansas City Power & Light does its part to reduce pollution, also. Find out more about our efforts to protect our environment by lowering pollution.

Visit these additional sites to learn more about recycling and what you can do to help the environment.

• Recycle City (EPA.gov)
  
• Earth 911
• Get EcoSmart! Select "Click Here to Learn More" button

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