Recycling and Green Technology
FoundationSort and recycle paper, plastic bottles and cans into new products; green technology like solar power keeps the Earth cleaner.
- Sorted waste is recycled back into useful resources.
- Blue for paper, yellow for cans, brown for bottles.
- Clean, dry and flatten before recycling.
文體小知識：說明文跟着一件廢物的旅程，看它怎樣經過分類和科技處理，變回有用的資源。
§Text Passage
1You must have seen the three-colour recycling bins on the street: blue for waste paper, yellow for metal cans and brown for plastic bottles. Recycling is the first step in turning waste into resources: clean paper, metal, plastic and glass must be sorted before they can be sent for reprocessing.
2Recycled waste transforms: waste paper is pulped into recycled paper; aluminium cans are melted and recast as new cans — the electricity saved by recycling one can runs a television for three hours; plastic bottles are shredded and melted into pellets that can become the fibre of clothing. Recycling saves resources and reduces landfill.
3Modern green technology grows more advanced: machines sort different plastics automatically; food waste goes into processors and becomes compost that feeds plants; solar panels turn sunlight into electricity and wind turbines turn wind into power — clean energy, all of it.
4Primary students can help too: rinse and flatten bottles before the bin, give old clothes and toys to people in need, and use both sides of the paper. Reduce, reuse, recycle — three moves together, and the Earth turns a shade greener.
1Summary 重點摘要
Sort and recycle paper, plastic bottles and cans into new products; green technology like solar power keeps the Earth cleaner.
2Vocabulary cards Vocabulary
Collecting waste and processing it for use again.
The three coloured bins for waste paper, metal and plastic.
New products made by processing waste.
The mush ground from waste paper for making new paper.
Leftover vegetable leaves, fruit skins and the like from the kitchen.
The fertiliser made from food waste as it breaks down.
Energy from sunlight that can become electricity.
The large site where rubbish is buried.
Energy that gives off no waste gases in use, such as solar and wind power.
3Step by step Steps
- Step 1: Tell the three bins apartBefore recycling, learn to tell the three colour bins apart. The blue bin takes waste paper, such as newspapers and old exercise books; the yellow bin takes metal, such as rinsed cans; the brown bin takes plastic, such as drink bottles. Some people think anything may go into any bin, but wrong items soil a whole bin of good materials so that none of it can be reused. Only when colours are sorted correctly can recyclables be sent smoothly for reprocessing.
- Step 2: Clean before recyclingClean the items before recycling. Pour the leftover drink out of a bottle, rinse and dry it, and flatten it before it goes into the bin, so it will not smell or draw insects; keep paper dry, for wet paper cannot be recycled. Some people think dirty items can still be recycled, but clean recyclables are worth more and lighten the work at the recycling station. One extra minute of rinsing makes recycling that much more effective.
- Step 3: Follow one piece of wasteEvery piece of waste has an exciting journey. A recycled aluminium can is squashed into blocks, melted and recast, and within about sixty days it can stand on the shelf as a new can; waste paper is pulped into recycled paper. Some people think the task ends when waste enters the bin, but that is only the start of the cycle. Recycling keeps materials going round and round, easing the landfill burden and saving the Earth's resources — a truly great cause.
- Step 4: Know food-waste processingFood waste can become useful things too. Vegetable leaves, fruit skins and leftovers go into a food-waste processor; after a few weeks they break down into dark compost, wonderfully rich for flowers and vegetables, and large plants can even turn food waste into energy. Some people think food waste can only be thrown away, yet rubbish is merely a resource in the wrong place. Collecting food waste separately is the first step to using resources well.
- Step 5: Know clean energyGreen technology includes clean energy too. Solar panels on roofs make electricity from sunlight, and wind turbines make power as they turn; these ways of generating electricity release no waste gases and are kinder to the Earth. Some people think electricity can come only from burning fuel, yet some village houses and facilities in Hong Kong already use solar power. More clean energy means fresher air, milder climate change, and a livelier planet.
- Step 6: Build three habitsProtecting the Earth begins with daily habits. Bring your own shopping bag so no plastic bag is needed; carry your own bottle and refill it to throw away fewer plastic bottles; use both sides of every sheet before recycling it. Some people think environmental care is for adults, but children can keep these three habits just as well. Small as they seem, kept up daily they save many resources in a year, and we become little guardians of the Earth.
4Diagrams Diagrams
5Worked example Example
Example: Jane has an empty drink bottle, a stack of old exercise books and a piece of fruit skin. How should each be handled?
- Rinse the bottle clean, dry and flatten it, and only then put it in the plastic recycling bin.
- Remove the plastic rings and staples from the exercise books, and put the paper in paper recycling.
- The fruit skin is food waste — into food-waste recycling, or the home compost bin.
- Each piece of waste finds its proper place, and all of it turns back into useful resources.
- Answer: Recycle the bottle clean and flattened in the plastic bin, the paper freed of rings and staples in the paper bin, and the skin as food waste; sorted properly, all three can be reprocessed.
6Common mistakes Mistakes
7Quick check Quick check
Q1What do the three recycling bins take?
Q2What is good about recycling aluminium cans?
Q3What must be done before a bottle goes into the bin?
Q4What can food waste become?
Q5What do solar panels do?
8Recap Recap
- Sorted waste is recycled back into useful resources.
- Blue for paper, yellow for cans, brown for bottles.
- Clean, dry and flatten before recycling.
- Food waste becomes compost; sunlight becomes electricity.
- Reduce, reuse, recycle.