That is why waste prevention is the highest priority in the State of California s integrated waste management hierarchy. Recycling involves producing new commodities out of discarded materials. Natural resources are hidden treasures of the Earth that have developed during the formation of the Earth or by ecosystems. Water, oxygen, minerals, and plants are examples of natural resources. An enormous quantity of natural resources are used to produce goods we consume, and the use of these resources produce a lot of waste.
Many natural resources are nonrenewable, which means that they are irreplaceable.
Nonrenewable resources, such as oil and minerals, are especially precious because the Earth cannot make more of these materials. The extraction of natural resources, by mining and logging, has an environmental impact on habitats from which the resources were taken. Recycling helps conserve our limited natural resources utilized in manufacturing products. Recycling one ton of newspaper, for example, saves 17 trees. Recycling also reduces our dependency on foreign oil and mineral imports.