Recycling – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

By now most of us have heard the axiom: “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” We are living in a world of finite resources with a growing population. There are many ways to be making the best use of what we’ve got.

Reduce. This first word is often skipped in the process, but it is perhaps the simplest and most effective method at minimizing our waste stream. Recycling does require energy inputs to turn the material into a reusable product, so if one’s goal is to put less pressure on the planet’s resources, reducing the amount of things that one consumes altogether has remarkably far-reaching effects. This is especially important for materials that have little potential for being reused or recycled, like the packaging of small items. There are often options to buy similar items that have less packaging if you look for them. A plastic bag takes 20 years to decompose while a plastic cup takes 250 years to decompose. Using reusable alternatives can reduce this waste impact tremendously.

Reuse. The possibilities of reusing materials are perhaps endless. What you yourself cannot reuse, someone else usually can. Some ways to reuse everyday items include: wrapping ribbons from floral arrangements around the stems of dried flowers to create a decorative hanging, using wallpaper scraps for matting for photos or shadowboxes, or for covering boxes to be used as attractive storage pieces. Or, try melting unscented candle pieces into new candles.

Paper grocery bags can not only be used for young children’s crafts or coloring pages, which can then become gifts for family members, but also can be colored or decorated and used as wrapping paper for gifts.

Some ways old jewelry can be recycled include offering it to a thrift or consignment store, donating appropriate pieces for children’s crafts, or “reinventing” it in combination with other pieces/settings/stones.

When cleaning out the garage, donate half- used cans of paint to local theater groups, housing rehabilitation organizations, low income housing programs, or schools for art, woodworking, or construction needs.

Recycling is the next resort for items that you can’t reuse; or donate the items to someone who can use them. Many municipalities have programs that collect and process recyclable items for use as raw materials. New York City introduced the first recycling program in the 1890s. The United States now recycles 32 percent of its waste, but much recyclable material is ending up in landfills. Most plastics, papers, cardboard, and glass can be recycled. Check with your local recycling center. There are new innovations being made every day to increase the recycled and recyclable content of the most used products. Did you know that 80 percent of a vehicle can be recycled? Food scraps can be recycled too, by means of composting. Composting is considered nature’s method of recycling.

Recycled materials are used for many everyday new items. For example, recycled plastics are used for construction materials, product bottles, sleeping bag insulation, and much more.

The possibilities today are virtually limitless for making a smaller footprint in a world of finite resources.

Tagged as: Recycle, recycling, Reduce, Reuse