Buy Recycled
Buying recycled is critical to the economics of the recycling process. There are many products that contain recycled materials or are made of completely recycled materials. When shopping, check labels for the recycling symbol and choose products with recycled content when you can. Tell retailers and manufacturers that you want to purchase more recycled goods and see more recycled packaging: send emails, take surveys, mail letters. Pressure from consumers can help close the loop and make recycled products more readily available for sale.
Check out products from Terracycle. The company uses waste that usually can’t be recycled and turns it into usable gear—like pencil cases from old drink pouches, and handbags and totes from cookie packaging. It’s a great source for school supplies, too, with colorful folders, binders, backpacks, and more. Products can be purchased online, or found locally at stores like Target, Walgreens, and Kroger.
Target offers a wide variety of products made from recycled materials, from practical school and office supplies and glassware for the home to decorative picture frames and vases. For more details, log on to www.target.com and search “recycled products.”
Check out more info online:
- Clark County Waste Management District’s Buy Recycled Guide
www.32TRASH.org/BRGuide/buyrecycledguide.htm - United States Environmental Protection Agency
www.epa.gov/msw/buyrec.htm - ODNR Division of Recycling and Litter Prevention
www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/Toolsandresources/BuyingRecycled/tabid/18279/Default.aspx
If every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of 120-count virgin fiber paper towels with recycled ones, we could save:
- 933,000 trees
- 2.4 million cubic feet of landfill space, equal to 3,700 full garbage trucks.
- 350 million gallons of water, a year's supply for 2,700 families of four.