Manufacturers extracting natural resources, such as bauxite or aluminum ore, and refining them to make products use energy in the process. Often, burning fossil fuels generates this energy. When people throw those items away, they send them to landfills where they may take centuries or longer to break down completely. Reducing, reusing and recycling help reduce humanity's environmental footprint, carbon dioxide emissions and energy use and limits the amount of landfill space people create.