Why use recycled products?

Question

I recycle. I understand how my tiny part in recycling affects the earth. But why should I BUY something that's been made with recycled parts? It costs more, and I'm not aware it's going to affect the planet one way or the other.

Answer 1

If the economics don't work, recycling won't neither. To see some really COOL green businesses (including recycling), check this blog:

http://Livepaths.com

Answer 2

Stop thinking of ourselves. Recycle paper and leave some trees for tomorrows unborn child. Recycle plastic and leave some energy of tomorrows child. There are resources in our world that are renewable and resources that are not infinite, they are finite. The food crops we grow are renewable, but the soil is not. However the soil can be recycled, renewed, managed and reused, talk to a farmer and discover that recycling is as basic protecting the future.

Answer 3

As with all new technologies or products, recycled products cost more when they first come to market. As small start up companies grow or larger established companies adopt recycled content products the price will fall. We need to encourage that growth.

Recycling conserves resources and reduces landfills.

Answer 4

It might surprise you that you are using a lot of recycled products without even knowing it.

for instance Aluminum cans are recycled from aluminum can at a cost of 10% of producing them from raw materials.

however there are people who are charging extra for recycled things trying to make more money by playing on the recycle hype.

Answer 5

So there isn't that much trash in the world.

Answer 6

That's not always the case....  Used automobiles are a form of recycling (reusing what would become scrap).  Paper towels (Marcal Paper products, for example) can many times be made of a significant amount of recycled material and in my area can be less expensive than brand name goods [a novel idea is to revert to cloth towels for stains... 65 uses later the towel has paid for itself and is not adding additionjal waste].  The plastic bowls across the quick service restaurants are made with as much recycled material as possible to cut costs.  

People tend to pay more for the "Green" label than for the recycled products.

What we need to accomplish to change the earth is move from a consumerist society.  Unfortunately the system we work in is very wasteful (3G iPhone is a great example of people wasting one well designed product for the newest "fashion") and not designed for sustainability.

Answer 7

well yes they are a bit more expensive but its a waste to recycle then not to buy the product the more people that buy the product and recycle the price will go down eventually If you are not going to buy the product why recycle?  then the product can be recycled again.

Answer 8

It will affect the plant because instead of taking a resource that has not yet been used (ex paper - you have to cut down a tree) you use that same resource again (saves a tree plus transport and chemicals used for/on that tree).  For metal that means less mining of  metals from the earth... less impact now and more to use later...someday I think they will be mining our landfills for all the metals we have put there.

To be fair, you have to look into the cost of recycling too.  The recycling of some products cause as much damage as the production of the equivalent.

Answer 9

Buying something that has been recycled means that less resources, electricity, fossil fuels, water etc, are being used to produce that product. You can recycle paper, but if you buy paper from virgin products then you are still using way more water, cutting down trees and using fuel to transport them then using recycled paper. Check out greenpeace.org for a list of toilet paper, napkins, etc that aren't made using virgin boreal forest trees.

Answer 10

Because what is the economic incentive for a company to recycle a product, make it into something else if they can't make a profit off of it?