Waste has come out to be a very important environmental problem in cities with high population density along with the population increase, fast and unplanned urbanization. The problems related to the increasing amount of waste show the importance of waste management aiming at production and consumption with very little waste or no waste at all. Insufficient importance placed on waste management, irregular disposal of garbage to nearby settlements, disposal on soil and in water sources threatens the health of nature and environment. For this reason, it is necessary to collect, transport, store the waste and then to make them harmless by putting them to good use. The waste generated by human activities causes a number of dangerous problems such as storage problem, contamination of surface and ground water, reproduction of various pest, bad smell from waste, and soil contamination as waste get mixed with soil by forming a carcinogenic substance. Considering all these, reuse, recovery and recycling, known as 3R, come to the forefront in reducing the amount of waste which becomes an important environmental problem. A concept indicating the responsibilities of people to the nature, to each other and to future generations is also a planning and management process of competing with the world markets economically, meeting the basic needs of people appropriately, raising the prosperity level and quality of living without ignoring future generations and it is also socially fair, preventive, protective and remedial for natural systems. An individual who is aware that he is a part of the ecosystem within the scope of sustainability, will come to a point where he will achieve his social and economic development and show respect to nature. With the environmental education for sustainable development based on a holistic view, the individual handles environmental issues not only in terms of biological and physical aspects but also in economic, social, political, cultural and historical aspects. Individuals who take responsibility for their behaviors and take an active role in environmental problems need to have a holistic view. In order to control wasting we all need to know that which things are actually included in wastes and which are not? There are many types of wastes.
TYPES OF WASTES:
Packaging wastes, medical wastes, hazardous wastes, domestic wastes, industrial wastes, organic wastes and chemical wastes.
RECYCLING METHODS:
● Renewal of waste materials
● Reverting the product back to its original state
● Conversion of waste materials to new materials through various physical and chemical processes.
● Bringing used materials into the nature.
● Collecting and processing the used waste.
● Processing recyclable materials that can be reused.
The recycling education to be given at schools within the context of a qualified environmental education will be effective throughout individuals’ life. In this context, teaching programs, teaching environments and textbooks have great impact on teaching recycling within the scope of the environmental education to be given by well appointed teachers. It has been determined that educator could not define the concepts of waste, recycling, recovery and reuse at all or they made deficient and wrong definitions and they could not categorize types of wastes before the Awareness Education; whereas they made scientifically correct definitions at the end of the education and they could categorize types of wastes correctly. Considering that we are in the information age and that the internet is widely used by the younger generation, it is thought that the internet should be used more widely in order to raise awareness for recycling. y, it has been concluded that as a result of the Awareness Education, we should use recycle boxes more frequently and that the awareness for recyclable materials has increased and that the young generation can pay more for recycled products because their awareness for importance of recycling increased.
ADVANTAGES OF RECYCLING:
● Prevents waste of raw materials.
● Prevents environmental pollution.
● Reduces amount of wastes.
● Contributes to the economy.
● Saves energy.
● Conserves natural resources.
● Conserves the nature and living organisms.
● Reduces air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution
. ● Reduces effects of global warming.
● Conserves forests.
● Reduces bad smell.
● Reduces dependency on foreign countries.
● Reduces storage space.
● Provides employment.
● Reduces health problem and chances of diseases
. ● Balances the ecosystem.
DISADVANTAGES OF RECYCLING:
● Costs too much.
● Causes air pollution.
● Product quality is lower compared to its original quality.
● Reduces quality of living.
● Recycling sites are unsafe and unhygienic.
● More energy consumption
. ● Have bad effect on heath.
● Results in pollutants.
● Creates toxic exposures. 5
● Harms atmosphere.
● Takes a lot of space. ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCE:
● Recycling items like paper, glass, plastic, aluminum, steel, tires, electronics, batteries (which contain plastic, lead and other materials), and used oil helps preserve natural resources, conserve energy and water, decrease air emissions generated in manufacturing processes, save landfill space, and prevent pollution.
● E-cycling (recycling electronics) ensures that heavy metals commonly found in electronics (including lead, mercury etc) are safely managed and that valuable materials (such as steel, glass, and plastic, as well as precious metals such as copper, gold, tin, silicon, and aluminum) are reclaimed for the manufacturing of new products
. ● Reduces energy needs for the manufacturing of many new products.
● Conserves water and other natural resources. It has been determined that we should pay more for recycled products with the idea of conserving nature, contributing to the economy of the country, saving energy, conserving natural resources, preventing environmental pollution, reducing the need for raw materials and ensuring sustainable development. It has been resolute that Science Teacher are of opinion that waste materials are harmful to the environment, thus recycling is necessary to prevent environmental pollution and depletion of raw material resources, to save energy and to contribute to the economy It has been concludes that the majority of individuals are of opinion that it is important to separate domestic waste, and that the greatest benefit of this is to the environment. Being aware of the meaning of the signs on the packaging is thought to be extremely important in terms of choosing the packaged products that can be recycled in daily life. Most of the educator associates the most important reason why recycling is not common to the fact that individuals do not know recycling. Because it is thought that as the individuals understand the importance of recycling, their sensitivity towards this issue increases and as a result they use recycle boxes by separating wastes and taking recycle boxes’ colors into consideration. The results obtained after the Awareness Education reveal that the knowledge level of the teacher candidates about the recyclable wastes and bags used according to the types of wastes has increased. Particularly increased awareness of hazardous and medical wastes is thought to be a remarkable and positive result. It has been determined that prior to the Awareness Education, teacher candidates were mostly of the opinion about benefits of recycling that environmental pollution will be prevented. At the end of the education, it has been determined that teacher candidates were of opinion that environmental pollution, raw material wastage and visual pollution would be prevented, recycling would contribute to economy and save energy, the nature and natural resources would be protected, bad smells and dependency on foreign countries would be reduced, and storage areas for wastes would get smaller. It is thought that in parallel with the education and increase in their knowledge level about recycling, their environmental sensitivity increased, and they are now aware of importance of recycling for the environment.
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