Recycling began forty years ago when a U.S. paper company wanted to let its customers know that their products were made out of recycled products.  They wanted a symbol that would be immediatly recognisable as being a product that was recycled.

A design competition was held and a young graphic design from University of Southern California, Gary Anderson, won.  He devised a symbol based on the Mobius strip, which is a shape with one side and no end.  It was the perfect symbol for how recycling reuses material without end.   It is now the symbol for recycling.

Recycling is more than plastic bins filled with aluminum cans, paper and plastic.  That is certainly part of recycling.  Recycling is so much more though.  It is a law of nature or a philosophy to live by.    Recycling is a way of thinking and living that affects every aspect of your life.  You don’t buy the latest flat-screen television if you have a perfectly good console television.  When your console television no longer works, you find a recycling center that will accept it. You may have to pay a small charge, but it is worth the effort to keep our planet clean and unpolluted.

There are many other ways that you can recycle.  In addition to recycling your aluminum, glass, paper and steel cans, make sure that you recycle your motor oil if you change your own oil.  Bring leftover cans of paint to your community’s annual hazardous waste collection.  They will dispose of the paint correctly.  So what is recycling? well quite clearly it is any way you can conserve or reuse resources……