http://www.care2.com/greenliving/why-reuse-beats-recycling.html
Why Reuse Beats Recycling
Adapted from Choose to Reuse,by Nikki & David Goldbeck.
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.
More from Annie B. Bond (3247 articles available)
Go to the Source
Choose to Reuse
An Encyclopedic Guide to Services, Businesses, Tools and Charitable Programs that Facilitate Reuse by Nikki & David Goldbeck.This revolutionary guide is the first to reveal the ingenious ways that the environment, charities, individuals and businesses profit from reuse. "Magnificent."Coop America Quarterly.450 pages. $10.95 +$4. S/H
Available from Ceres Press, PO Box 87 Woodstock, NY 12498. (888)804-8848 or www.HealthiestDiet.combuy now
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add your comment »I am in the process of putting together a Directory of all Independent Re-Using Groups around the World, please feel free to help by alerting Groups in your area of the site existence and help to promote Re-Using.
http://www.reusers.org
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HP has just recently joined up with Greenwala for their latest contest Choose to Reuse. http://www.greenwala.com/greenwala_contests
Upload a photo of your latest creation made from reusing another object and you could win a new HP mini laptop and a printer!!
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Churches can get into the act! My church recently held a garage sale - a great way to reuse things - to raise funds to buy parts for a new speaker that our pastor was to assemble. It was a huge success and a lot of people benefited from the discounted prices. Our pastor built the speaker case from used pieces of wood. He painted it black, and it looked new!
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www.alchemlist.org
The relatively new Alchemlist is dedicated to making it easy to donate an item to a non-profit near you.
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Thank you for the information! Many people will surely enlighten their mind about the difference of two terms. These days, some of us are looking for ways on how to save money by means of choosing products which is less expensive. But still, you have to be careful because it can harm you and your family. Since we are talking about the products that can harm the people, US CPSC issued a recall of about 1.6 million top freezers and side by side refrigerators made by Maytag Corporation due to fire hazard. There have been over 1 million units recalled. If you have one of the recalled units and there have been any ill effects from the unit, you are urged not to call the store you bought it from, but instead call the manufacturer directly, as they are offering free in-home repair related to the defective units. Not having a defective product would be ideal, but Maytag is being very generous about things.
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www.neighBORROW.com is a better way to reuse- share things with neighbors or co-workers to use things more thoroughly and more efficiently:)
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www.neighBORROW.com is a great way to re-use... or simply to use more thoroughly and efficiently
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I have given away a load of computer bits I no longer need on www.scoodi.com. Scoodi allows you to re-use things with your neighbours which also reduces shipping.
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I gave my computer away(which needed repair) for charitable reuse at InterConnection - it's a cool Non Profit in Seattle that refurbishes computers and trains the volunteers hardware skills. The computers are then provided to Non Profits all around the world particularly schools in developing countries! Volunteer even gets a refurbished computer after volunteering for 30 hours! This reuse reduces the depletion of resources as it extends the life of a computer to its max! Hopefully it will encourage less of a throw away mindset.
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http://www.reuseitnetwork.org/
There is the new e-recycler in town, check them out.They dont have as many rules as freecycle has and are more grassroots, much more green tips. Most groups are much more eco-freindly.
Dont throw it away - ReUseIt!
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