(Science Trek music) JOAN CARTAN-HANSEN, HOST: There're lots of different kinds of garbage, But you can sort them into two types: Organic and inorganic.
Organic garbage is made of the plants, food waste, and animal waste.
Organic trash will decay and can become soil.
Inorganic trash are items that do not decay into soil.
Items made with chemicals or minerals..things like plastic, glass, and aluminum.
How long do inorganic things last in the landfill?
Glass can last a million years.
Plastic bottles 450 years Aluminum cans 80 to 200 years And all these things are recyclable.
That is, they can be reprocessed into something new.
How much does recycling save?
In terms of energy savings, recycing plastic conserves about 66 percent over making new.
Recycling aluminum cans saves even more at 96 percent.
But recycling saves more than just energy.
It means we don't have to use as many raw resources.
And we put less into our landfills.
And that's good for everybody.
For more information about garbage check out the Science Trek website.
You'll find it sciencetrek.org