Why Reuse Beats Recycling

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Why Reuse Beats Recycling

More Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Solutions

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.

 

 

 

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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 1000 examples of

individual, business, government and charitable reuse that are

included in Choose to Reuse.