Why Reuse Beats Recycling

Reuse is often confused with recycling, but they are really quite different. (Even those engaged in reuse frequently refer to it as recycling.) Reuse in the broadest sense means any activity that lengthens the life of an item. Recycling, on the other hand, is the reprocessing of an item into a new raw material for use in a new product–for example grinding the tire and incorporating it into a road-surfacing compound. Reuse is nothing new. What is new is the need to reuse.

Reuse is accomplished through many different methods: Purchasing durable goods, buying and selling in the used marketplace, borrowing, renting, subscribing to business waste exchanges and making or receiving charitable transfers. It is also achieved by attending to maintenance and repair, as well as by designing in relation to reuse. This may mean developing products that are reusable, long-lived, capable of being remanufactured or creatively refashioning used items.

Why is reuse so important? Because at the same time that it confronts the challenges of waste reduction, reuse also sustains a comfortable quality of life and supports a productive economy. With few exceptions reuse accomplishes these goals more effectively than recycling, and it does so in the following ways:

Reuse keeps goods and materials out of the waste stream
Reuse advances source reduction
Reuse preserves the “embodied energy” that was originally used to manufacture an item
Reuse reduces the strain on valuable resources, such as fuel, forests and water supplies, and helps safeguard wildlife habitats
Reuse creates less air and water pollution than making a new item or recycling
Reuse results in less hazardous waste
Reuse saves money in purchases and disposal costs
Reuse generates new business and employment opportunities for both small entrepreneurs and large enterprises
Reuse creates an affordable supply of goods that are often of excellent quality.

Unique to reuse is that it also brings resources to individuals and organizations that might otherwise be unable to acquire them.

The best case for reuse is made by the more than 1,000 examples of individual, business, government and charitable reuse that are included in Choose to Reuse.

Read more: Home, Reduce, Recycle & Reuse

Adapted from Choose to Reuse,by Nikki & David Goldbeck.Copyright (c) 1995 by Nikki & David Goldbeck. Reprinted by permission of Ceres Press.
Adapted from Choose to Reuse,by Nikki & David Goldbeck.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Victor M.

2:08PM PDT on Mar 17, 2012

R & R & R

send a green star

Jason P.

2:02PM PST on Feb 11, 2012

Good article! I am passionate about reducing and reusing, instead of recycling, whenever possible. I find it fun and creative to develop second uses for previously used items. My passion has lead to starting a business solely devoted to providing paper, with one side or less of print, a second life as notepads (secondlifepaper.com). I hope we continue to find ways to reuse items and for those items to be used.

Kristina C.

8:52AM PST on Jan 17, 2012

Thank you - reusing makes sense. I love to shop in thriftstores and re-finish discarded furniture items for friends and family.
Recycling seems to be a business. In my city the receycling bins are delivered but the private company that empties the containers does not take all recycable items. They pick through what I put out and only take what it is profitable to them: right now only cans and plastic containers - no paper products.

Past Member .

8:11PM PST on Dec 30, 2011

it makes me nuts when i see people buy the "disposable" plastic storage containers. so much comes in reusable plastic. we use glass spaghetti jars, jelly jars etc to store leftovers in. they make great travel containers for drinks or even at home. usually sturdier than regular drinking glasses also. a yogurt cup makes a great small cup to store small amounts of things in the frig. or even a non-breakable drinking cup. and if you fill them with food to give away, you don't have to worry about getting them back and they will (hopefully) be recycled by the person you've given them to.

James B.

8:50PM PST on Dec 29, 2011

Thank you

Lynn C.

8:30PM PST on Dec 28, 2011

I learned this as a child from my Grandfather. He was the most inventive, creative person I know, and could find a use for all sorts of things, as well as having the skill and know-how to make use of almost everything he found.
Space and need are my limitations today. But have always dreamed of having a true work shed with plenty of accessible storage and space to work on projects. Heaven!

Michele W.

9:50AM PST on Dec 28, 2011

peggy p.

1:48PM PST on Dec 21, 2011

agreed. we try to reuse or donate as much as possible

Jennifer C.

4:24PM PST on Dec 20, 2011

Thanks for this article.

Diane V.

9:32AM PST on Dec 19, 2011

I'm a big "reuse" fan. This year I started a little cottage business making things like messenger bags, totes, etc. from reused coffee sacks. Having a blast making them. Just opened an Etsy store and got them into my first local coffee shop. Very fun, very exciting, very green. Love "reuse"!