Hey Everybody! My name is Recycle Kyle and I’m from Seattle on the West Coast of the United States. This is my first blog post. I thought Pink Coral Laurel’s blog post about the Great Barrier Reef was really cool. My Pals and I want to spread the word because we think our generation can make a difference! The Earth is getting warmer every year due to climate change, so we think helping the environment is “cool”.
Seattle, Washington is in the Western United States and is known for being green. (Other places in the Pacific Northwest are also green like Portland, Oregon where I have other Pals). Seattle is near the Pacific Ocean! Imagine that…that same ocean leads all the way to Pink Coral Laurel in Australia! Around Seattle, there are lots of trees, trails, and mountains. I love to skateboard outside, enjoy some fresh air and do some cool tricks. Secondly, it’s eco friendly! I consider my skateboard my “car”!
So here’s why I think recycling is cool…one day when I was skateboarding, I hit a soda can and fell down. I was wondering, “why did someone throw this can on the ground? Why didn’t they throw it in the trash? Why didn’t they recycle it? I put the can in a recycling container and then went home and told my parents about it. I called my Global Green Pal, Carbon Offset Chet and told him how cool it would be if more Pals around the world recycled. Chet knows a ton about climate change, global warming and the environment! That’s because he flies his solar powered plane around the world and meets lots of Pals who care about the Earth. We talked about how if one person recycles it can set off an amazing chain reaction!
Get this …recycling reduces the amount of trash from our homes and schools. If we recycle, trash does not go into landfills and isn’t burned in incinerators, which pollutes the air. (Clean Air Kate loves this). Fewer landfills mean more green space for kids to play in and cleaner air for everyone. When things are recycled, less carbon emissions go into the air, less new resources and energy are used and less carbon dioxide is emitted. And get this! It takes nearly 95% less energy to recycle aluminium that it does to make from raw materials, about 60% less energy to use recycled steel, 40% for recycled newspaper, recycled plastic 70% and recycled glass 40%. Wow!
Do you also know that recycling one soda can saves enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 3 hours? Look at the energy I saved by recycling one can. Imagine if people everywhere around the world did this? Let’s spread the word. I’m going to start right now. This Seattle-based business recycles but some people think it’s not enough: http://bit.ly/bcHbTR. I am going to do my part and write them.
In honor of Earth Day, I’ve also helped organize a green field trip this week to a recycling plant with some Green Pals. Global Green Pals’ Helena Robertson is coming with us…cool! We’ll post photos of the trip real soon! Oh, and I don’t want to boast, but I was recognized for being green: http://bit.ly/apvHB3 and http://bit.ly/KZRj6.
Thanks for listening and most of all, thanks for recycling! My Global Green Pal Pani Rani will be blogging next!
Peace,
Recycle Kyle
