Recycling

Composting

Steel and Tin

Mobile Phones

Batteries

	Composting Composting is a great way to recycle your kitchen and garden waste and it reduces the amount of waste in you rubbish bin. It turns your biodegradable waste, such as fruit, vegetables and garden waste, into something that will improve soil and help plants to grow even better. What do I need to start composting? It's so easy to compost, anyone can do it. You can buy a compost bin in you local garden centre or from your local authority. Choose a convenient spot in your garden for the bin, but not in a spot that's too hot or too wet. If you don't want to use a bin you could choose a spot in your garden for a compost heap. Now you're ready to begin! What can I compost? You will need to separate all your organic kitchen and garden waste. Put it in your compost bin or heap and mix it with a garden fork every couple of weeks. It is important to have a good mix of green and brown waste in your bin in order to make good compost.' Browns' are dry and dead plant materials like straw, dry brown weeds, autumn leaves, wood chip and sawdust. 'Greens' are fresh plant materials such as green weeds from the garden, kitchen fruit and vegetable scraps, green leaves, tea bags and coffee grounds.



	Greens Fruit, vegetables Bread, pasts and rice Tea bags and coffee Garden waste Leaves Weeds (not weed seeds) Dead plants and flowers Branches and twigs Grass and hedge cuttings	Browns Kitchen paper Sawdust and wood shavings Straw Paper Wood Twigs and branches cut into small pieces Crushes egg shells Egg cartons Contents of your vacuum cleaner
	What not to compost. You can help me find out what not to compost by visiting the Race against Waste website or clicking on the compost bin.


	The Lifecycle of Steel Cans Steel cans can be recycled very easily. The are collected and baled at recycling centres and taken to steelmaking plants. Here they are melted down, together with other ingredients called iron ore and limestone. The liquid metal is poured into moulds and then left to cool down. When it's hard enough, a machine chops it into big blocks. These are then sold to be made into new steel products. Making steel from recycled materials uses up to 75% less energy than making steel from new materials. Every tonne of steel from recycled cans saves 1.5 tonnes of iron ore, 0.5 tonnes of coal and 40% of the water used in the production proccess. Study the image on the left to find out more about how steel cans are recycled. Click on the cans to find out more.





	Batteries Laptops, walkmans, toys, cell phones, calculators — these are just some of the things that need batteries to function in our daily lives. Batteries are a unique product comprised of heavy metals and other elements that make things “portable.” Some of these toxic heavy metals include nickel cadmium, alkaline, mercury, nickel metal hydride and lead acid, which can threaten our environment if not properly discarded.
	Improperly disposed batteries may produce the following potential problems or hazards: Pollute the lakes and streams as the metals vaporize into the air when burned. Contribute to heavy metals that potentially may leach from solid waste landfills. Expose the environment and water to lead and acid. Contain strong corrosive acids. Cause burns or danger to eyes and skin. Click on the battery bin to find out where to recycle batteries in your local area. Find out if your school is a host for recycling batteries.


	Mobile Phones There are now more mobile phones than people in Ireland! Mobile phones contain small amounts of precious metals like gold silver and copper but some mobile phones and their accessories contain dangerous substances which need to be disposed of in safe and efficient manner.Until recently there has been no easy safe way to dispose of old mobiles and they have been sent to landfill sites. However, there are now many easy-to-use recycling schemes. It's easy to recycle mobile phones as many organisations collect them as a means of raising funds for various charities. Simply contact an organisation or charity of your choice and send them your old phones. Click on the mobile phones to visit one charity that collects phones.

Improperly disposed batteries may produce the following potential problems or hazards: