Should We Recycle or Reuse?

We are taught recycling is important, and yes it is when that item is in demand, all too often what we think is being recycled is not being bought and ends up right where we were trying to prevent it from ending...the landfills. I check each item that is no longer of use to me or anyone else I know and make sure not to toss any thing in the garbage that could be recycled. But recycling isn't sustainable. It takes a great many resources to do so.  Think, for a moment how much goes into recycling a product.

• The gas we use in our cars to deliver recycling to the drop off bins
• Diesel used to drive around and pick up the recycling bins
• The energy used to sort, as more and more areas allow us to drop off unsorted recycling
• What energy is used to break down our recyclable items?
• Where do the broken down components go to be converted to a new product?
• What energy is used to create a new product from our recycled items?
• Once a new product has been created, how far does it travel to be sold or used in its new form?
• How is the new product used, and eventually discarded?

When I think about all the steps it will take to convert what I cannot use, I realize this is not sustainable.  But what choices do we have?

Take a can of soup. You could choose to make your soup at home, avoiding having the can at all. Short of that, what could you do with the can?  You could use it to hold tools in the garage, as a pencil holder, or even a candle holder.

To make the can more decorative as a candle holder you can add a punched design, like old punched tin found on many older pieces of furniture.  Simply fill with water and freeze. When frozen use a large nail and hammer to punch a design into the can.  Add a small candle and enjoy the light coming from your design.

Before tossing something in the recycling bin try to come up with another use for it.    I had a guest who brought with her a store-bought cappuccino. It was in a glass bottle with a metal lid.  Leaving it behind when she left I knew this would have another use.  I cleaned the label off,  found some ribbon and turned the bottle into a beautiful vase for cut flowers as a gift. The lid I cleaned and added a picture inside and a magnet on the back, now it can hold a note on a  fridge or metal surface.

Re-using items before you toss them in the recycling will not only save the resources to turn that item into something else, but may solve a problem you have around your home, eliminating the need to buy something new.

 What other ideas can you come up with for those recyclable items? Are there ways to avoid acquiring items that will only  have a use if they are recycled?