Over Six billion people live on our earth. Every person creates waste such as food packages made of cardboard and plastic, aluminum cans, worn out tires, used paper, broken down cars, bent bicycle wheels, old toothbrushes, grass clippings, leftover food, old movie tickets, empty containers of cleaning products, etcetera …..Whatever we throw away. Where does it all go?

In towns and cities all over the world, trash is put into a dump. A dump is a place where trash is left in one spot on top of the ground or in deep holes in the earth. The holes are filled with trash. This is done year after year, until there is no more room at the dump. Then, a new dump is begun. In some towns, there is no room left for dumps. Trash has to be moved to the dumps in other towns.

One of the worst problems with older dumps is that polluting chemicals were dumped there before any rules were made about how to handle it. Those chemicals seep into the soil and into the water, polluting that also.

In some towns and cities where the space for dumps is running out, laws have been passed that make people recycle. Using something again is called recycling. (You’ll learn more about that later.)

For example, a lot of used plastic and glass can be melted and reshaped into new containers, carpeting, playground equipment, and a lot of other useful items. Paper can be cleaned, soaked in water, and turned into new paper. The steel from old cars can be melted and made into new cars. There are as many ways to reuse things, as there are things to use! All we have to do is think!