Make Your Own Recycled Paper!

It's not too hard to make recycled newspaper. Do you want to try it? Check with the adults in the house - this is a messy experiment. Make sure that they're OK with you using items from the kitchen to recycle the paper. You might also want to do part of this experiment outside.

What You'll Need:
Newspaper
Water
Eggbeater or electric mixer
Plastic wrap
Large metal pan
Mixing bowl
Cheesecloth
Large spoon
Paper towels
Rolling pin
Paper clips, binder clips, or clothespins

Separate the newspaper and take out 3-6 full sheets. Tear these sheets into little pieces about 1 inch (2.5 cm) square, and put them into the bowl. Add enough water to just cover all the newspaper. Cover it with plastic wrap and put it somewhere safe overnight.

After at least 12 hours, remove the plastic wrap and add a little more water. Now, here's where it can get messy - mix the wet paper with an egg beater or electric mixer until it makes a smooth , mushy substance. This substance is called paper pulp. Lay the cheesecloth out flat in the bottom of the large metal pan. Pour some of the pulp over the cheesecloth and use the rolling pin or the back of the spoon to smooth out the pulp so that is makes a thin, even layer. In the meantime, spread out several sheets of newspaper and cover with some paper towels.

Lift the cheesecloth (someone may need to help with this step), so that the water drips out into the pan. Once most of the dripping has stopped, lay the cheesecloth and paper on top of the newspaper and paper towels. Cover with more paper towels and use the rolling pin to get even more water out. Make sure to have plenty of extra towels to sop up all the water!

Take off the top layer of paper towels and let the recycled paper dry for at least 30 minutes. Turn it over carefully, using the cheesecloth, and let the other side dry for another 60 minutes (you may need to replace the newspaper and bottom towels, too). After the paper has dried for a total of about 90 minutes (30 on the first side, 60 on the second), try lifting it off the cheesecloth. If it starts to tear, leave it until the next day, and try again then. If it doesn't tear, peel the cheesecloth off, and use paper clips, binder clips, or clothespins to hang the paper up somewhere to dry completely. Once the paper is dry, you can write or color on it!

Recycling is important, but as you can see from this experiment, sometimes it is a LOT of work!!

Be A Crafty Recycler!

Recycling is more than just putting certain materials out to be collected. It also involves re-using things over again, or "re-purposing" them by turning recyclable materials into something entirely new. Here are some ideas for crafts you can make with recyclables:

• Make pretty metal flowers from old soda cans!


• Do you have old T-shirts that look cool, but you just don't wear any more? Turn them into wall art, then you can look at them all the time!


• Get crocheting and make a tote bag out of old plastic grocery bags!


• Create homemade food mixes as gifts and package them in recycled glass jars!


• Weave recycled newspapers into a spiffy basket!


• Be artistic and turn old magzines into a beautiful mosaic picture.

Can you think of any more crafty things to do with recyclable materials?

Fantastic Plastic!

One of the materials that is commonly recycled is plastic. There are several different types of plastic that can be reused, and each one has a special code. If you look on the bottom (usually) of a plastic container, you'll see the three-arrow recycling symbol with a number and/or letters inside. This tells you what kind of plastic it is:

1/PETE (or PET): Poly(ethylene terephthalate) is a kind of clear polyester used to make bottles and jars for different foods. PETE can be recycled into fabric to make clothing!

2/HDPE: High-density polyethylene is used for larger bottles that are not clear, and for some food containers. HDPE can be reused to make bottles for motor oil and laundry detergent, and to make outdoor furniture and "plastic wood".

3/V (or PVC): Poly(vinyl chloride) is also found in many types of bottles, but they're generally not used for food. PVC is a little hard to recycle, because it releases dangerous gas if it is heated too high, but it can be used to make flooring and siding for houses.

4/LDPE: Low-density polyethylene is related to HDPE, but the molecules have a different shape. HDPE molecules are straight, and LDPE molecules branch like a tree. LDPE is used to make many kinds of shopping bags, and it can be recycled into trash bags. Many towns don't collect this plastic for recycling.

5/PP: Polypropylene is found in food containers, especially yogurt containers. Many caps for bottles made from PETE, HDPE, or PVC are actually made of PP. This plastic can be reused to make many items such as broom and brush bristles.

6/PS: Polystyrene is used to make plastic dishes, cups, and cutlery (forks, spoons, and knives). It is also the plastics most commonly found in foam products. It isn't recycled very often, because it can break down into dangerous chemicals when heated.

7/Other: This group includes any other type of plastic. They usually aren't recycled.

Look around your house and see how many of these types of plastics you can find. Which ones does your town recycle?

Sorting All Sorts of Trash

In some communities, people must separate their recyclable materials into different categories, such as glass (clear or colored), paper, cardboard, aluminum, plastic, etc. Other communities use single-stream recycling, in which everything is put into one large container; sorting occurs later.

If you watched the recycling center videos, you saw that they use some pretty cool methods for separating trash into different types. Sometimes, it's very simple, with a trained sorter picking items out by hand. Other separation methods use magnets or flotation. In this experiment, you will investigate different items that might be in the trash, and will try to figure out ways to separate them all.

What You'll Need:
Pieces of different plastics about 1 inch (2.5 cm) square (find plastics with different numbered recycling codes to ensure that they're different)
Aluminum foil (1 inch or 2.5 cm pieces)
Aluminum can
Steel can
Newspaper (1 inch or 2.5 cm pieces)
Copier paper (1 inch or 2.5 cm pieces)
Magnet
Knitted wool or acrylic item (like a hat or mitten)
Hair dryer
Large bowl
Water

1. Place the magnet near all the different kinds of trash you've collected. Which kinds are attracted to the magnet? Could you use a magnet to remove these from the recycling stream?
2. Rub the knitted item on your hair to give it a static charge. Are any of the trash items attracted to the charged knitwear?
3. Place all of the pieces of trash on a table and aim the blow dryer at them. Turn the dryer on. Which types of trash get blown about, and which ones stay put.
3. Fill the bowl with water and place all of the pieces of trash in the water, one at a time. Which ones float, and which ones sink?
4. Using what you have found, can you figure out a series of sorting techniques that will let you separate all of your trash into different categories? You can use techniques more than once if that helps. If you can't, which things are hardest to separate?

Recycling Center Tours

Did you ever wonder exactly what happens in a recycling center? Here are some videos that show you what happens to all those cans, bottles, newspaper, etc. that you collect.

Bowling Green, Kentucky: "BG's Recycling Center" - giants mounds of recycled materials!
Keene, New Hampshire: "From the Curb to the Recycling Center" - the jumping aluminum cans are cool!
Miami, Florida: "Recycling Center - Part 1" - some good tips about recycling
Glendale, Arizona: "City of Glendale AZ Recycling" - if you like trucks, you'll like this video!

Is your town on this list? If not, you might call your local recycling center and see if they ever offer tours to visitors.

Where Does It Go?

Do you collect all your recyclable materials and put them out for special collection? Did you ever wonder what actually happens to all that stuff? We'll explore recycling this month - metal, plastic, paper, and glass. You'll learn how recycled materials are separated and cleaned, and what new uses they're put to. You can even recycle your own paper, and learn how to make useful objects out of things you would normally put in the trash!