Many people recycle common materials such as paper, plastic, and aluminum. However, if there is no market for products made with recycled materials, recycling centers will stop accepting items for recycling. Although many items cannot be made with recycled materials, the more items we buy that do contain recycled content, the more manufacturers will make products with recycled materials. Read labels on items you buy, because if the manufacturer uses recycled materials, it will usually be on the label. Post-consumer recycled content means it is made from materials that people like us (or commercial and industrial facilities) have used and would otherwise throw away. Pre-consumer recycled content means the manufacturer has found a way to reuse material that would otherwise be thrown away.
Look beyond the familiar list of materials that are usually recycled (paper, plastic, aluminum, steel) and find ways to recycle other items such as end-of-life electronics, fabrics and clothing (check with your local charity thrift store), and books. www.earth911.com has a large amount of information on where and how to recycle a wide variety of materials. When you are shopping, choose items and packaging made of materials that are easy to recycle. Also, remember that recycling goes beyond putting something in a recycling bin. Recycling also means re-using something that you would otherwise throw away. You can re-purpose something or donate (or sell) it to someone who can use it. Re-using an item saves more resources than reprocessing recycled materials.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
May 2024
|