Lesson 3 Small Things Matter
Wishful Recycling
Most people agree with the idea that recycling is an easy ____ to make a positive impact on the planet.
It makes you ____ good about yourself, too.
But your efforts may sometimes ____ harming the environment instead.
How can this be? Well, it ____ because you might be a wishcycler.
What Is Wishcycling?
Imagine ____ following situation.
On your way home from school, someone hands you a piece of ____
You glance at ____ shiny flyer advertising a new study café.
As you are about to throw it into the garbage, you decide to ____ it into the recycling bin instead.
You think flyers can ____ recycled because they’re made of paper.
____ just happened is a case of wishcycling.
It is the act of trying to recycle something that should not ____ recycled.
Wishcycling is usually done with good intentions, but ____ often causes more harm than good.
Why Is It a Problem?
The biggest ____ with wishcycling is that it creates more waste.
For example, if you wishcycle a greasy pizza box, it can ____ clean paper products with oil.
Then everything in the recycling bin will become non-recyclable and end ____ in a landfill.
Creating more waste is not the only problem, ____
Wishcycling also leads ____ costly delays.
To process recyclable items, ____ items must be sorted out first.
The more non-recyclable items ____ mixed with recyclable items, the longer it will take to pick them out.
Wishcycled items can also damage ____ sorting machines, causing them to be temporarily shut down for repairs.
How Can We Stop Wishcycling?
With ____ little effort, we can put an end to wishcycling.
First, make sure your recyclables are empty, clean, ____ dry.
Shake ____ any remaining liquid from bottles and jars.
After that, wash them out and wait ____ them to dry.
____ also need to remove the labels.
Now they are ready ____ be tossed in the recycling bin.
This simple process will ensure ____ all the items in the recycling bin can be recycled.
Second, learn about the meanings of various recycling ____
They tell you about the material of ____ item and whether it can be recycled or not.
Have you ever seen a recycling symbol with the number “7” and the word “other” ____ it?
This symbol means the product is made of two different materials and will ____ difficult to recycle.
Checking the recycling symbols like this will ____ you stop wishcycling.
Third,
Third, check the recycling guidelines for ____ local area.
Different areas have ____ rules on what can be recycled.
You can easily learn about the ____ for your area by visiting your local government website.
You ____ also look for recycling posters near recycling bins.
Lastly, don’t recycle an item when ____ doubt.
Even after you check the symbols and guidelines, you might still ____ unsure whether it is recyclable.
In that ____ you should put it in the trash.
You might feel ____ that you may be throwing away a recyclable item.
However, doing so may actually be ____ for the environment.
Take comfort in the fact that ____ are not wishcycling.
We all know that living without producing trash is ____
The good news is that about 75 percent of our waste can be recycled when it is ____ properly.
This ____ why we need to stop wishcycling and start recycling.
So hop on ____ #stopwishcycling movement and help keep our planet green!