Recycle

BY OMOLIGHO UDENTA
ORDINARILY, recycling involves processing used materials (which can be anything from futons to fridge) into new products in order to avoid waste of potentially useful materials, decrease the consumption of new raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from land filling).
This is done by reducing the need for “conventional” waste disposal, and lower greenhouse gas emissions as compared to virgin production. Recycling is an important aspect of modern waste management and is the third part of the “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle” waste hierarchy.
There are various recyclable materials and they include many kinds of glass, paper, metal, plastic, textiles, and electronics.
Abroad, materials to be recycled are either brought to a collection centre or picked up from the curb-side, then sorted out, cleaned, and reprocessed into new materials bound for manufacturing.
Although recycling of a material, in a strict sense, would produce a fresh supply of the same material, however, because this is often difficult or too expensive (particularly when weighed against producing the same product from raw materials or other sources).
What one finds instead is a situation where many “recycled” products or materials are reused in producing different materials (for example, paper to cardboard).
An additional form of recycling is the retrieval of certain materials from complex products, either because of their intrinsic value (for example, gold from computer components), or due to their hazardous nature (e.g., removal and reuse of mercury from various items).
Opponents of recycling however state that it often wastes more resources than it saves.

AROUND here we do the most basic forms of recycling for instance carrier bags (usually nylon bags) are reused when shopping or as bin bags around the house, jars and bottles are resold for reuse, old tyre tubes are used to make shoes, old newspapers and scrap paper are sold to tissue paper manufacturers, used tins are reused to make lamps etc, politicians are recycled and reused as well, politicians.
‘Oyinbos’ recycle envelopes by sticking labels over the address so they can be reused, they sometimes make clothes etc. into other textile items such as cushion covers or teapot cosies even, and every once in a while, they even have car-boot sales to get rid of some unwanted items.
However, if anyone here tries any of these people might just think you are really, really, really hard up for cash.
Some don’t care anyway and will try to recycle or reuse items not meant to be recycled or reused. For instance, take the case of disposable diapers.
They are meant to be worn, and disposed of after use but I have seen someone who took the time to wring and then dry the disposable diaper her baby had just used!
Seriously though, old clothes and books can be given to charities, old electrical equipment and computers can be donated to schools or community centres so that others can reuse them.
Doing these de-clutters your space and may make you feel good too because you might just be helping someone.

omoudenta@yahoo.co.uk