Parents, children, teens and senior citizens can join in on a family-friendly activity that is not only easy but good for the Earth. Recycling is not just limited to Earth Day and the conscious way of living that leads to a sustainable Earth is one that should be practiced on a daily basis, regardless of how busy one's schedule is. Recycling is not hard! It requires a little bit of thought and the habit of eco-consciousness will soon set in.

The National Institutes of Health provides a list of the many things that one can recycle. The list is most definitely not limited to paper and plastic. Everything from acid batteries and aluminum cans, to glass and lead, to oil and paint, to wood and yard waste can be recycled.

"You'd be amazed what can be done with a recycled product ...a recycled soda bottle, for example, can be made into T-shirts, combs or hundreds of other plastic goods that can be used for many years," says the NIH Department of Health and Human Services, on its National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Kids' Page.

A family can participate in all levels of the recycling process, whether it is by reducing the consumption of goods and buying items in bulk - in order to help reduce the packaging that goes into commercial products - or by reusing plastic bags at home and travel mugs at work and school, or by recycling old clothes and toys through donations to goodwill.

"Waste" is defined by the NIH as anything thrown away or given out into the environment that has an effect on the Earth. That is a wide definition, which means all the more freedom in the ways that people can help to reduce waste and contribute to our society's goal of better waste management.