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.

Helen W.

8:10PM PDT on Apr 1, 2013

Thank You for Sharing :)

April 1
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Anne T.

2:14PM PST on Mar 8, 2013

Very good point! Thank you for adding more to my awareness :)

March 8
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Bmr R.

2:48AM PST on Mar 7, 2013

Thanks for sharing

March 7
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Monica M.

8:32AM PST on Mar 6, 2013

very good ideas

March 6
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Latoya B.

6:55PM PST on Mar 5, 2013

I love reusing items. I cut up old clothes to make pillows, altar cloths, etc. I buy a lot from yard sales and thrift stores. I save a lot of containers in case I think of something to make out of them (what can I make with apple sauce cups?) and sometimes save wrapping paper. I often see things that look interesting but don't know until I get home what I'll use it for.

I find old magazines and before I recycle them I cut out interesting pictures and frame them. I need to buy more picture frames the next time I go to yard sales. At the public library I saw someone throwing away DVD cases that weren't in completely perfect condition and I decided to keep them (just cut off the messed up part of the plastic or replastic them or glue/tape a printed pic directly on).

My stepdad is getting good at reusing items. He finds furniture on curbs and fixes them up or mix and matches pieces. He is a really good handyman and can fix items that other people would just give up on and toss out. He loves finding scrap metal, wood, etc.

March 5
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Shanti S.

2:41AM PST on Mar 2, 2013

Thank you.

March 2
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Alexandra P.

7:36AM PST on Feb 19, 2013

I shop almost exclusively at thrift shops and get most of my books from used book shops.
When I decide that a book is not a "keeper", I donate it to a book sale to benefit charity. My daughter is also a great believer in the reduce-reuse-recycle philosophy so we shop together.
Our favorite haunt is Goodwill Industries; we can happily spend an entire Saturday cruisin' the
bargains and donating OUR stuff for reuse.