Louie Learns To Recycle

Here is another of my stories about Louie, who has been asking, why is recycling important to the planet? To help explain, Molly flies Louie in the rocket to a rubbish dump where some animals help Louie understand. Note for parents: some animals in this story explain how rubbish can harm animals.

Thank you for your kind messages and continued support and following.

Transcript

Hello,

My name is Jacqueline and I'm a very proud Grandma.

I write stories for my grandchildren and I'm very happy to share them with you too.

So make yourself comfortable because my next story is about to begin.

Louis learns to recycle.

Louis was sitting at the kitchen table doing his homework when his mum asked him,

Louis,

Can you put this empty can and milk carton into the recycling bin for me please?

Louis put his pencil down and took the items from his mum who had just washed them at the kitchen sink.

He put them in the bin and went back to his homework.

Mum was getting dinner ready.

After preparing the vegetables she placed the peels into a small recycling box which she kept next to the sink.

She had another empty can to go in the main recycling bin,

But not wanting to disturb Louis again,

She took it to the bin herself.

She was about to drop the can into the recycling bin when she noticed the bin was empty.

Puzzled she asked,

Louis,

Where did you put the empty milk carton and can?

In the bin,

He replied,

Not looking up from his homework.

But they are not here.

Louis looked over to where his mum was standing next to two bins by the back door.

One was for the recycling and the other for the rubbish which could not be recycled.

Oh,

I may have put them in the wrong bin,

Louis shrugged.

Sorry mum,

I wasn't thinking.

Mum switched the items from one bin to the other.

You must be more careful next time,

She said.

It's not a difficult thing to remember.

Oh mum,

Does it really matter?

Louis groaned,

Not in the least bit interested in rubbish bins.

Yes it does,

She answered.

Recycling is very important for our planet.

Oh,

If you say so,

Louis mumbled as he continued with his homework.

That night,

As Louis' mum tucked him into bed,

He asked,

Why is it important to recycle things?

It's important for lots of reasons,

Which we can talk about tomorrow,

She said.

It's getting late now and you have school in the morning.

Hopefully you'll learn about recycling at school soon.

It should be an important part of your education.

But for now,

I think it's time you went to sleep.

That night,

Louis woke up and saw his rocket on top of his toy box.

But there was no sign of Molly.

He laid his head back onto his pillow and thought about recycling.

He wondered what the milk carton and can would be made into.

As different ideas came into his mind,

Molly appeared.

Sorry I'm late,

She said as they both climbed into the rocket.

I was sorting through some old clothes I don't wear anymore and I forgot about the time.

What are you going to do with your old clothes,

Asked Louis,

Remembering how his mum went through his clothes now and then and took away the things which he had grown out of.

He often wondered what she'd done with them,

But never thought to ask.

I'll take them to the charity shop tomorrow,

Molly answered.

That way someone else gets to enjoy them.

Is that the same as recycling,

Asked Louis.

In a way,

Yes it is,

Agreed Molly.

It's much better than putting clothes into the rubbish bin and then them being taken to a landfill to decompose.

How long do clothes take to rot away,

Asked Louis,

His curiosity growing.

Well,

It all depends on what type of fabric the garment is made from,

Explained Molly.

A cotton shirt can take up to five months,

But a polyester shirt will take over 500 years to decompose because it is man-made from chemicals and not a natural fibre like cotton.

500 years,

Gasped Louis.

That's longer than forever.

Yes,

It is a long time,

Agreed Molly,

But a plastic bag can take anywhere from 500 to a thousand years to decompose.

Louis tried to imagine all the plastic bags he had watched his mum throw away in his short lifetime.

There had been quite a few,

And then he thought of his neighbours and how many plastic bags they must use every day they go shopping.

Mum told me recycling is very important for our planet,

But I haven't really thought about any of this before,

Said Louis.

I just know the bin men collect our rubbish once a week and once they empty it from our bins into their truck and drive away with it,

I never give it any more thought.

So what actually does happen to our rubbish once the bin men takes it away?

Let's go and find out,

Said Molly.

She twiddled some knobs on the control panel in front of her and the rocket came to life.

Within a few seconds the countdown had begun and the rocket set off.

They landed in a large open space.

At first all Louis could see out of the rocket's windows were hundreds and hundreds of birds flying and swooping down to the ground.

As they unbuckled their seatbelts and made their way out of the rocket,

Molly explained where they were.

This is a landfill site,

A place where rubbish is taken.

It's also known as a tip,

A dump,

Rubbish dump or garbage dump.

Landfills are huge pits made in an area usually away from where people live.

Each week when your household rubbish is collected by the bin men in their big truck,

It is taken to a landfill just like this one and dumped.

Once the pits are full up they are covered with soil and compressed and left for decomposition or rotting for a simpler word.

Now as you already know certain things can take hundreds of years to decompose but in the meantime the covered area can be used to build upon.

Louis looked around.

As far as the eye could see there was rubbish with hundreds of birds flying around trying to find food hidden amongst the mess.

Oh my this place stinks exclaimed Louis trying to cover his nose to the awful smell around him.

This is one giant rubbish bin.

Yes it is Molly said trying to ignore the terrible smell but a lot of this stuff we are looking at could have been recycled and not brought here.

Every year a massive two and a half billion tons of waste is dumped in landfills.

If all this waste was put onto trucks there would be enough trucks to go around the world 24 times.

Wow that's incredible exclaimed Louis as he tried to picture this in his mind.

So why is it better to recycle things rather than throw them in the rubbish bin?

Well when we recycle things it not only helps to reduce the rubbish in landfills it also helps to preserve natural resources such as trees and land which then helps to support wildlife.

Molly explained every time a new landfill is created hundreds of acres of land are destroyed which kills not only plants and trees but wipes out various animals habitats.

At that moment a big gull came flying towards them.

Louis thought he was going to fly straight into Molly but at the last second he landed in front of them.

Hello you two he squawked.

You look a little lost can I help you?

I'm just showing my friend this landfill and explaining how we should learn to recycle more of our rubbish explained Molly.

This is Louis and my name's Molly.

Nice to meet you both.

My name is Denny and I 100% agree with you.

I know exactly how bad these places are for us birds and animals.

A while ago I was scavenging for food and accidentally ate a piece of plastic and nearly choked to death.

I was very scared I thought I was going to die but I survived thanks to my quick thinking friends who got me to choke up the piece of plastic.

After that I decided to do something about the unnecessary waste here.

Come with me and I'll show you around and he flew off.

Molly and Louis followed him as quickly as they could.

Denny led them to a large building they had not noticed before.

Inside was lots of machinery all operated by various animals.

Mice,

Voles,

Rats and dogs with more gulls and crows flying overhead as they brought more items in to be recycled from the landfill.

These are my friends and workers said Denny.

They also used to scavenge for food here and like me they each have their own story to tell about the dangers of the landfill.

Nelly tell Molly and Louis your story.

A pretty white mouse explained what had happened to her.

I was rummaging around in a pile of rubbish searching for food when all of a sudden everywhere went black.

I couldn't see or hear anything.

My head was stuck inside of something.

The more I wriggled to try and free myself the more stuck I became and then I panicked.

I panicked so much I found it hard to breathe.

I didn't know what to do when suddenly I felt something around my body tugging me and eventually my head became unstuck and I could breathe once again.

A couple of my friends had seen me struggling with my head stuck in an empty coke can and they pulled me free.

I can't thank them enough they are over there.

She pointed to three white mice who waved to Molly and Louis.

I'm so pleased they were around to help you Nelly said Molly waving back to the mice.

An old looking mixed breed dog spoke out next.

I've lived on this landfill for a while now because I don't have a home of my own.

I stay here because I find more food to eat here than out in the streets he explained.

But as I wander around looking for food I keep cutting my paws on the broken glass which lies amongst the other rubbish almost invisibly.

Glass can be recycled in many different ways but people don't seem to bother to do that.

Instead they throw it in their garbage bins and then it lands up here and gets smashed into zillions of tiny pieces.

I think I still have a piece stuck in my back paw as it sometimes hurts when I walk.

Oh no gasped Louis hating the thought of an animal in pain.

Would you like me to take a look at it for you and see if I can remove it?

Oh that's very kind of you said the dog but I've kind of got used to it after all this time.

It's a reminder of how life used to be and keeps me focused on my new way of life where I help other animals by doing this important job.

A grey rat spoke out next.

Some of our friends have died from eating so much plastic which they thought was food he said sadly and we have seen many tiny creatures trapped in plastic containers unable to ever get out said a small vole.

Her friends next to her were nodding as they agreed with her.

Louis felt quite upset hearing these animals stories.

He hadn't realised the damage seemingly harmless drink cans and empty plastic bags and containers could do to wildlife let alone the planet.

He decided that he was going to find out more about how he could recycle things when he got home.

He knew the only way to get these things to stop was by doing something about it but change wouldn't happen by just talking.

Action needed to be taken.

The animals got back to work and Molly and Louis looked around.

They noticed different buckets filled with items at the beginning of each row of machinery.

Denny flew over to them.

Let me show you what we do here.

He flew to the first row where plastic bottles were being placed onto a conveyor belt.

These are smashed into big plastic blocks which is then flaked before being melted and made into new plastic items as well as sleeping bags,

Car parts and carpets.

Louis noticed a large container filled with plastic bottle caps.

He picked one up and asked what are these made into?

These pesky little things which take years to decompose seem to be everywhere we look.

They're melted and made into things such as storage containers,

Ropes and brooms.

I'm going to start collecting these in a small box at home so they don't get lost said Louis and I think I'll go round to my neighbours and encourage them to save them for me too.

Great idea agreed Denny as he flew to the next line of machinery.

This is where paper and cardboard is recycled.

Cardboard is used to make things like cereal boxes,

Paper towels and tissues and new paper is made from the recycled paper.

This is so interesting said Louis,

Such a good way of giving rubbish a new life.

What we are doing here is just tiny compared to what is happening out in the big wide world,

Explained Denny.

Yes,

Agreed Molly,

Pleased that Louis was enjoying learning about rubbish.

Recycling materials happen all over the world but they rely on people doing their part by separating the recycling items from the things destined for the landfill.

If we all made it a habit to recycle papers,

Magazines,

Cans,

Plastic,

Glass bottles,

Electronics and more we could create a healthier planet and we could take more of the things we don't need anymore to the charity shop,

Said Louis,

Remembering about Molly's clothes.

I have some games and toys I no longer play with.

I'm going to take those to the charity shop so others can enjoy them.

That's a great idea agreed Denny.

There are so many old toys here at the landfill which could have been given to children who don't have many toys themselves.

Now that I understand more about recycling I'm going to tell all my friends about it and encourage them to recycle too,

Announced Louis eagerly.

Thank you for showing us around Denny,

Said Molly.

We don't want to take up any more of your valuable time.

I'm happy you stopped by,

Said Denny and thank you Louis for listening and learning about recycling.

The world needs more people like you eager to learn and help your planet by simply changing to some new and simple everyday habits.

After saying their goodbyes Molly and Louis made their way back to the rocket.

Thank you for bringing me here Molly,

Said Louis.

I really hadn't realised recycling was so important.

I thought my mum was just being fussy and annoying but now I understand why.

That's good,

Said Molly,

But there is so much more we can do to help our planet.

Like what?

Louis asked really keen to learn more.

Well we can turn lights off when we don't need them,

Use reusable fabric bags when we go shopping instead of plastic carrier bags,

Stop buying water in small plastic bottles and instead drink tap water.

We can learn to grow our own vegetables and use saved rainwater to water them.

The list really is endless.

This whole subject is so interesting,

Exclaimed Louis.

After school tomorrow I am going to Google how I can help the planet more.

They arrived back in Louis's bedroom.

Talking about school,

Molly said,

Switching off the rocket's engine and undoing her seatbelt,

You really should get some sleep.

It's a good thing time stands still when we take our trips,

Otherwise you would be very tired in the morning.

Good night Louis,

Sweet dreams.

And Molly was gone.

Louis snuggled into his bed and immediately drifted off to sleep,

Content with the knowledge he could help the animals and environment in more ways than he had ever imagined before.

Thank you for listening to my story.

Before you go I'd like to ask you a question.

What can you do to increase the amount of things you recycle each week?

Thanks again for listening and come back soon to hear another story from Grandma.

Bye for now.

Reviews

I actually use rain water to water my plants,recycle as much as I can,and turn off lights that are in rooms that I’m not in.❤️🌎

Can u make any med that has to do with Wings of Fire?

My mum recycles cans and bottles. I will recycle all my things that I don't want or that I don't need.

That was really good. That was really good. That was really good.That was really good.That

Great 👍!!! It was very informative, thank you ☺️!!! How old is Louie in this story??

Thank you again 🙏
-Wolf and Willa 😘

That was a very educative story and I hope many many many many people will see it.2: when was this published ( I think that’s the right word for it)

Also charlotte for a long meditation i recomend: the dragon palace under the sea.

It is 85 minutes long

I always recycle ♻️ what I need to recycle ♻️ bug sometimes I get mixed up and so it’s nice to know I’m not the only one

It was great l you story’s with Louie in from question l think l should collect more bottle caps save the planet🌏🌎🌍

what about łöuies school?he missed the whole DÅŶ!
lol anyways amazing I love that I could suggest maybe you make one about a girl named Mïå she can Secretly be a Princess but she didn’t know that until her mum figured out that they were part of the rôŷåł family I am suggesting?

I loved it it was so good
Can you make one where Louie has an adventure inside the rocket

?????? I don’t think I have any ideas but I’m sure I will find one

Bye the way I can not sleep tonight 😢can you please do a Meditation that is really really long to help me fall asleep 💤
🙏🥺❎🅾️❎🅾️