Why reuse

Swap shops take used materials that would normally be discarded and make them available to employees or the public at little or no cost.

Swap shops at businesses and industries can be designated areas where employees can collect used buckets; extra, individual soaps and shampoos at hotels ; pallets; containers; and other items.

Local governments can set up swap shops at landfills or collection centers where the public can drop off nonhazardous reusable items and pick up things they can use.

Surplus stores. Surplus stores accept unwanted items usually furniture and office equipment and make them available internally or for sale to other agencies or to the public. Surplus stores are usually operated by large institutions such as universities and governments. State and federal surplus stores provide a good source of used equipment, vehicles, and supplies for institutions and local governments. Scrap exchanges. Scrap exchanges accept industrial scrap or printer overruns and distribute them for free or sell them at a nominal cost to schools, daycare centers, senior centers, and nonprofit organizations with arts programming.

The scrap materials can be used in art and drama classes and in a variety of arts and crafts programs. Schools and other organizations can contact businesses directly to obtain scrap materials or they can use a scrap exchange.

Industrial materials exchange services. These types of programs actually exchange information, rather than waste, by compiling information about available or wanted waste and surplus materials and posting it in newsletters, catalogs, or on an electronic bulletin board service. Companies either contact each other directly or go through the exchange service.

Industrial waste exchanges can be operated at local or regional levels. Some local governments have set up waste exchange programs that match industrial users with generators by maintaining a database and distributing the information in newsletters. There are numerous regional waste exchanges operating throughout the United States and Canada; regional coverage ranges from several counties to statewide to multi-state.

Individual materials exchanges. Several local governments in North Carolina have reuse operations that target a particular material, such as paint or pallets, and operate them on a continuous basis or as one-day events.

When items cannot be reused, due to age or wear and tear, consider upcycling. Here are reasons to reuse:. If we are recycling items, that means we are continually buying new things. We can reuse items like grocery bags, paper, boxes, and electronics. This saves us the cost of having to buy these items multiple times.

Additionally, consider buying used items. Buying used will save you a bundle and conserve resources and prevent perfectly good products from being tossed. Recycling is an energy intensive process. Our recyclables have to be heated, melted, and reconstituted. A lot of embodied energy is lost every time we recycle rather than reuse these items. If you grow your own food, you can reuse most glass bottles, after sanitization. Or, if our recyclable items are not particularly useful to us, you can probably find other people who would use them.

You can connect with local people who are looking to swap or just give away items that no longer serve a purpose for them. Because recycling requires a lot of energy, it comes with its own share of pollution. Reusing and repurposing do not create pollution. Rather, items are made useful in their current state.

This is especially true for things like clothing. If you cannot reuse clothing, try upcycling or repurposing it or donate to a local homeless shelter. Practicing conscious consumerism will cut down on the amount of items that end up in landfills. If you buy for longevity, you are more inclined to buy higher quality , something built to last, and something you truly need. Our consumer culture encourages us to buy cheap, replace often.

If things are meant to last, we are more likely to think about what we buy. Are you investing in furniture that could be passed down to your children or friends? If so, you are more likely to buy quality. For every ton of plastic bottles recycled, almost 3.

What can I recycle? Why reduce, reuse, and recycle? Here are some ways you can reduce your consumption: Set your printer to "double-sided.

By trimming the margins, you'll increase the amount of information that will fit on one page, reducing the likelihood of printing extra pages. Save information and documents electronically rather than printing out a hard copy.