Youth Video and Poster Contest

Recycling: The Key to Sustainability

Humans depend on a healthy and thriving planet. Earth is our home. Everything we breathe, eat, make, and use traces back to Earth’s resources. A sustainable planet cannot exist without recycling. Recycling ensures that Earth’s valuable resources will continue to be available into the future without damaging the environment. Every time something is recycled, it ensures that we are taking less from a mountainside, forest, or ocean floor.

THE POWER OF RECYCLING

A cycle is a sequence of events repeating themselves. On a circle, you can begin at any point on the circumference, and eventually work your way back to the same spot, and then repeat! Recycling is like that. Products that have been used once can be transformed into something new and usable again. Printer paper can be recycled and made into cardboard boxes. Cardboard boxes can also be recycled to become paper towels or wrapping paper . . . and the cycle continues. Plastic water bottles can be recycled and turned into shampoo bottles. Shampoo bottles can be recycled and made into traffic cones . . . and the cycle continues!

The use of recyclable materials in manufacturing produces enormous benefits:

• Maximizes the usability and the sustainability of renewable resources. 
• Preserves natural resources and eliminates the need for mining, drilling for oil and natural gas, and other harmful environmental practices used to harvest raw materials.
• Slows the pace of global deforestation.
• Sends less material to waste.
• Lowers energy costs.
• Helps fight climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
• Creates thousands of jobs in local communities.
• Builds a culture among employers and employees of proper environmental, health, and safety practices.

But some products are more recyclable than others. For example, single-use plastics like forks and spoons are often caught in recycling machinery because of their small and narrow shape and are therefore not very recyclable. But plastic bottles are easily recycled — and a bottle you recycle today could end up in the shirt you wear tomorrow!

Your challenge

Tell the story of a previous life of a product made from recycled materials and explain how the creation of this product is the key to sustainability and why it matters.

When a material reaches its end-of-life, it means that it can no longer be recycled or made into something new. The circle is broken and the cycle ends. Keeping materials in the cycle as long as possible is key. The more material that can be recovered, recycled, and made into something new, the better! 

THINK ABOUT IT!

Shoe boxes are typically made of cardboard. After removing the shoes and tissue paper stuffing, that shoe box can be recycled. It can be made into many different things: a pizza box, a toilet paper roll, a shipping box, or countless other forms of paper found in your home. Each time that cardboard is recycled, it takes on a new “life” and continues to be useful!

Create a public service announcement that raises awareness around recycling and why and how recycling can reduce the impact of climate change in your local community and ensure earth’s resources are available for future generations.

Your poster or video should:

• Highlight a specific product and identify the commodities (materials) that your product is made of. Your product should be made from one or more of the following materials:

• Identify something that is made from recycled material You may need to conduct some research!
• Research the recycling journey of that product you’ve chosen, including details about the parts that make up your product.  
• Imagine how many other items your chosen product could have been before its current form. 
• Explain why recycling is the key to sustainability and important to everyone and better for the earth! 
• Include a picture or visual representation of your chosen product’s recycling journey!
• Display the title “RECYCLING: The Key to Sustainability” on the title screen of the actual video or display clearly on the poster itself.
• Be innovative!  Think creatively!

All entries must be submitted by Friday, December 16, 2022, by 11:59 pm ET

For complete contest guidelines, helpful resources, and more information visit ISRI JASON Learning Video and Poster Contest.

Contest Rules and Submission 

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