You may also cut Styrofoam strips into flat strips for use as plant markers. Styrofoam meat trays may also be used for placing your watercolors, paint, clay dough and other materials. In the United States, the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers has organized a mail-back initiative, where consumers can send their polystyrene packages or trays through the regular postal service. A used aluminum can be recycled and returned back to the grocery shelf in as little as 60 days, and recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to power a television set for 3 hours. 2.5 million plastic bottles are used in the United States each day, and most of them are thrown away. The plastics and other types of trash that end up in our seas and oceans are estimated to kill as much as 1 million sea creatures every year. The most common recyclable materials include metal, glass, textiles, paper and plastic. Let s take balanced and closer look at recycling plastic bottles. Plastic is A Commonly-Used, Non-Biodegradable Product Plastic is a material that s become a common fixture of our daily lives. We use plastic in different ways. Find a Company or Facility To Help Handle The Recycling Once your recycling program is approved by your school administrator, find a company or facility that will help handle your recycling output. Get a phone book, and check out the recycling companies in your area, or talk to the solid waste management or recycling coordinator in your local government. Through this method, a toxic or hazardous product is put through a process which makes it reusable again. Many chemical wastes can actually be reused through this recycling method. Examples include mercury, which can be retrieved from mercury barometers and reused again for different purposes. In the proper recycling of household hazardous wastes, most towns and cities today have installed programs for recycling them. Also encourage your coworkers to actively participate in any recycling program. - At home, encourage family members to use both sides of paper. Educate your kids and other family members about the importance of paper recycling, and teach your children to bring home the paper they used in school, instead of throwing them.