Natural Resources
Natural resources are materials from the Earth that are
used to support life and meet people’s needs.
Any natural substance that humans use can be considered
a natural resource. Oil, coal, natural gas, metals, stone
and sand are natural resources. Other natural resources
are air, sunlight, soil and water. Animals, birds, sh and
plants are natural resources as well.
Natural resources are used to make food, fuel and raw
materials for the production of goods. All of the food
that people eat comes from plants or animals. Natural
resources such as coal, natural gas and oil provide
heat, light and power. Natural resources also are the
raw materials for making products that we use everyday
from our toothbrush and lunch box to our clothes, cars,
televisions, computers and refrigerators.
Renewable and Nonrenewable Resources
Renewable resources are those natural resources such
as trees, water, sun and wind that can be replenished at
about the same rate at which they are used. Renewable
resources, however, can be depleted if not properly
managed or conserved.
Nonrenewable resources are those natural resources that
are depleted more quickly than they can regenerate. Fossil
fuels like oil and natural gas were formed over millions of
years. Once mined and used completely, nonrenewable
resources are gone forever.
The Challenges of Using Natural Resources
Extracting, processing and using natural resources can
cause environmental problems such as: air, land and water
pollution; disruption or destruction of ecosystems; and a
decrease in biodiversity.
For example, carbon dioxide – which is produced from
burning coal, oil and natural gas (fossil fuels) – is a critical
greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases absorb and retain
heat from the sun. Examples of greenhouse gases include
methane, ammonia, sulfur dioxide and certain chlorinated
hydrocarbons. Many scientists believe that the build up of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere can cause global
climate change (change in the average global temperature
of the atmosphere near the Earth’s surface). Over time,
this condition could pose dangers around the world such
as ooding, drought and disease.
Extracting and using natural resources also can disturb
relationships within ecosystems. What are ecosystems?
Ecosystems, which include ponds, wood lots and elds,
are self-regulating communities of plants and animals that
interact with each other and their non-living environment.
For example, trees cleared from a eld can destroy
habitats used by many animals, forcing them to nd homes
elsewhere. If these animals leave the ecosystem, further
disturbances can occur within plant and animal populations
that depend on these species.
Extracting and using natural resources – along with other
human activities – may decrease biodiversity – that is the
variety of organisms that live on the Earth. Diminishing the
Earth’s biodiversity has a substantial human cost because
Products Made
from Natural Resources
People use an abundance of resources to survive in a continually
developing world. Globally, however, some people live simpler
lifestyles than others and therefore use fewer resources. This table
lists some natural resources and the products and services people
produce from them.
NATURAL RESOURCE PRODUCT/SERVICE
Trees Paper, furniture, fuel
Cotton Clothing
Oil/petroleum
Plastic, fuel
Natural gas Fuel
Coal Fuel
Iron ore
Steel products (cans, bridges)
Bauxite ore Aluminum products (cans, car
parts)
Gold Jewelry, dental material
Copper Wire, coins, electrical equipment
Manganese Steel, cast iron
Cobalt Steel, jet engine parts, cutting
tools
Platinum Air pollution control and telecom-
munications equipment, jewelry
Chromium Stainless steel, green glass,
leather treatment
Diamonds
Jewelry, mechanical equipment
SOURCE:
“The Quest for Less: A Teacher’s Guide to Reducing, Reusing
and Recycling,” 2005 edition, U.S. EPA.
Ofce of Solid Waste
Reduction & Recycling
1-800-768-7348 l www.scdhec.gov/recycle
DHEC’s Ofce of Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling FYIs provide general information on environmental topics. Readers are
encouraged to reproduce this material. For more information about solid waste issues, please call 1-800-768-7348 or visit our Web site
at www.scdhec.gov/recycle. Please send written correspondence to: DHEC’s Ofce of Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling, 2600
Bull Street, Columbia, SC 29201.
Printed on Recycled Paper OR-0689 3/08
wild species and natural ecosystems are important
resources. Some economists, for example, estimate
that the lost pharmaceutical value from plant species
extinctions in the United States is about $12 billion.
Resource Recovery
Natural resources used for the rst time are considered
virgin resources and their extraction, processing and use
require a great deal of energy and can create pollution.
Resource recovery is a practice that conserves natural
resources by extracting material (e.g., paper, glass,
aluminum and steel) from the waste stream and recycling
it into other materials or using it to produce energy.
More and more companies are developing new and
innovative technologies that use recycled materials in the
manufacturing of products. Many steel mills, for example,
use a manufacturing process that uses virtually 100
percent recovered steel as the raw material.
Here’s another example. A company can create plastic
from oil, a virgin natural resource, or it can use recovered
plastic from recycling programs. If a company uses
recovered plastic, it is recycling material that would
otherwise become waste, helping prevent the depletion
of natural resources, conserving energy and preventing
pollution that would have been created in the extraction
and processing of oil from the ground.
How can you help?
There are many ways each of us can conserve natural
resources. Reducing our consumption – that is reducing
what we buy, buying products with less packaging, reusing
what we can, composting and recycling – is one of the
easiest ways.
Information for part of this For Your Information (FYI) fact sheet was
provided by “The Quest for Less: A Teacher’s Guide to Reducing,
Reusing and Recycling,” 2005 edition, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (U.S. EPA).
Natural Resources in South Carolina
Resource Recovery in Action
l Recycling or reuse of 2,000 pounds of paper saves 7,000 gallons of water and 380 gallons of oil.
l Using recovered aluminum cans saves 95 percent of the energy required to make the same amount of aluminum
from bauxite ore – its virgin source.
l Recovered steel is the industry’s single largest source of raw materials. In 2005, more than 75 percent of the steel
produced in the United States was made from recovered steel.
l For every ton of recovered glass (cullet) used to make new glass, more than 2,000 pounds of raw materials are
saved – including 1,300 pounds of sand, 410 pounds of soda ash, 380 pounds of limestone and 160 pounds of
feldspar. Using recovered glass also saves energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
SOURCE: American Forest and Paper Association; Aluminum Association; Steel Recycling Institute; and Glass Packaging Institute.
Forests – a renewable resource – cover almost two-thirds of South Carolina’s land area and are
used to produce lumber and pulpwood for paper production. The state has large deposits of kaolin
(a type of clay) as well as peat, sand, limestone and gravel. Granite is mined throughout the state for
crushed stone used in construction or dimension stone used in monuments – including the World War
II Memorial in Washington, D.C. South Carolina is the nation’s leading producer of vermiculite, which is
used for insulation and as a medium for planting. In addition, there is a limited amount of gold mining in
the state. South Carolina has no known economic deposits of mineral fuels such as coal or natural gas.
