Is there a better alternative than recycling?

Question

I attended a conference lately and they were discussing the idea of reusing articles rather than breaking them down. Do you think it makes a big difference to the environment?

Answer 1

This idea would mainly work best if you could do it in your own home.  While most people can't melt down metals, you can still by permanent objects over temporary ones to try and conserve.

Answer 2

Of course there are better options. Remember those 3 Rs you always used to hear? (I haven't heard them in a while...wonder where they went?!)

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Recycle is last for a reason. The first thing you can do is reduce the amount of resources you are using. Can you go without something? Look for products with less packaging. Walk/ride bike instead of drive...You get the idea. Then reuse! Get a cloth bag to go to the store instead of getting those plastic ones...but if you do get the plastic ones at least reuse them. THEN finally recycle what you can. And finally... buy recycled consumer goods - a lot of recycling goes into industrial products...but you can do your part by keeping the consumer goods moving off the shelf!

I know those things I said are small...but you can carry them over to bigger solutions.

I do think reusing/repurposing items is a great way to make a difference...a real one. Manufacturing takes tons of energy and resources.

*just saw those 4 R's....I like that! Thanks!

Answer 3

The 4 R's are Reduce, Reuse, Recyle, and Restore.  We should always try to reduce our consumption of natural resources, and then go to the next R.  The last one is associated with replacing when possible a resource (i.e planting a tree).

Answer 4

It all depends.

Recently many soda selling companies in the Netherlands have switches from re-using plastic bottles to recycling them.

Environmental reasons to choose for recycling instead of re-using coould be:

- cleaning the bottles (they have to cleaned _good_) takes a lot of water and energy

- used bottles that are to be recycled can be compressed at the store, when transported they take up a lot less space than bottles that have to stay intact.

To be sure which method is better for the environment you would have to do a life cycle assessments.

Answer 5

"a marathon begins with a single step"

if everyone did their part, it would make a huge difference

Answer 6

In my eyes there is no better way. Recycling Goes over and over again to keep it from poluting the earth.

Answer 7

Whenever possible, don't buy things that would end up in the landfill.  Give things away instead of having them put in the landfill.  There is an internet group with branches all over the world called "Freecycle" where you can both give away things and receive things at no cost what-so-ever.  My friends and I use it and have been quite happy with the results.

Answer 8

YES!!! Re-using plastic bottles; newsprint; glass containers; and lumber- could save many TONS of wastes from going into Landfills. Would ONLY we reused More of the stuff we throw away every day... -our Environment would be that much MORE- better off...

Answer 9

Reduce, reuse, recycle- in that order.

Answer 10

I think it is best to NOT USE them in the first place. Recycling takes energy and thus not the most efficient way to conserve resources.

I was shocked to find out at a conference that most recycled plastic bottles contents more virgin materials than new bottles! So recycling bottles to make new bottles can hurt more!

Breaking them down might work for some materials better than others. Metals are better to be melt down. It really depends on what products we need in the future.

Answer 11

It seems to me that cutesy, convenient packaging adds to the cost and the environmental impact of most products used in the home. Purchasing larger container sizes then repackaging with re usable containers at home would be a much better alternative to me.