Are You Really Recycling?

Question time...

If you do not seek out products made of recycled material, are you in fact recycling?

The definition of recycling is to turn something used into something new right?

So what if you are always passing on the used but not replacing it with a recycled item?

So many materials can be reused multiple times without the need to draw on virgin resources. Yes, you deserve a pat on the back for your recycling efforts, no doubt about it, a bigger pat if you reused them first, but the attitude of accepting and valuing recycled goods or packaging needs to shift.

Is your shampoo bottle made of recycled plastic? Is your packaging made of recycled card or paper? Are your clothes part or 100% made of recycled materials? (this could be cut offs, PET like Repreve or recycled elastics of Nylon).

If we as consumers can increase the value for businesses to seek out recycled materials for production or packaging it will become a standard practice. We can do this by making recycled goods a determining factor in where out money is spent. This is how you cast a vote every time you shop. 

We can also write to our favourite brands, question their choices when a recycled alternative is available or let them know you will not buy from them until they make the switch. Perhaps you will enlighten them to an option they never knew existed.

If it cannot be reused and it can be recycled then replace it with a recycled version. This is how we reuse through recycling. 

To give you an idea of how many times different materials can be recycled see below and remember the ones that can be recycled the most should be sought out as first choice!

Plastic: 1-10 times (Majority of plastics its just 1!)

Paper: 5-7 times

Metals: Infinite!

Glass: Infinite! 

Thanks for reading and recycling,

EMREN xx