Reuse before Recycling!
- August 10th, 2009
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If you are like me, and it is important to you to try to be as green as possible, than I am sure you are always thinking of new ways to recycle materials. I do my very best to try to separate every material that can be possibly recycled, so nothing goes to waste. Given the state of the environment and the economy, we really cannot afford to waste a thing.
One key to being as green as possible is to reuse (or re-purpose) everything you can. Recycling is great. It eliminates waste and helps protect the environment. However, recycling (in it’s modern form) also uses a lot of energy. It takes fuel oil to haul away your recyclables, when they get to the processing plant it takes more time and energy to sort the materials, pulverize them and restart their life cycles.
However, if you can find a way to reuse something (like a glass jar), you save all that energy. It doesn’t have to be hauled away, and we won’t waste energy destroying it, only to turn it back into another glass jar, or bottle. Furthermore, this can serve to help your frugality as well. Every need you can fill through re-use is a need (or want) you will not have to spend money to fill.
Items like glass jars can be used to store all manners of things, and can even be used to grow plants. Plastic water bottles can be used for all manners of projects, and everyone can make good use of a box. Why pay for these things when you certainly have mountains of them laying about. Save money, save the planet. It’s a true win-win.
Once upon a time, there was a milk man. The milk man would bring milk to your home in glass bottles. When he made a delivery, he’d pick up your old used bottles so they could be taken, sterilized and refilled. I really wish we had a service like that today. Think of how much money, and energy could be saved if there were some way to re-use the same containers for our most used products. Yes, this would raise it’s own economic challenges, but I suspect the environmental impact could be huge.
What do you think? Leave a comment with your thoughts.
