Reuse – Recycle

Reuse or recycle, what’s the difference?

In my opinion, reuse and recycle are very different. Yet they may, in certain circumstances, overlap a bit in correct meaning and usage. If there is one thing about these terms which environmentalists and ecologists are sure to agree, we all need to reuse and recycle more of our stuff. Reuse is in. Disposable is out. Reuse is not new or a fad, but what is changing is, our need to reuse.

Reuse:

Technically, when you reuse something you are leveraging it’s usefulness by extending it’s life or repurposing it’s use while the object remains “as is” or closely resembles it’s “used” state of being. A repaired object or hand-me-down clothes are good examples. I agree, in a very broad, but inaccurate, sense of the word they are being recycled – but, that is not accurate.

Recycle:

Actually, it’s more toward the opposite of reuse. Recycle is to break down, reprocess, or to refine the object back into new or like new raw materials – not necessarily for manufacturing the same type of objects. When aluminum cans are melted, the metal cleaned of impurities, and returned back into the raw material so it can be use to make any aluminum object, that is recycle.

Perhaps a helpful way to think about the term reuse…

…is that every object or item has a useful life. For illustration purposes I will use a wheel. One rotation of the wheel represents the full useful lifespan of an item; no matter how many times we reuse, repair, refurbished, hand down or repurpose that item. At the point of one full revolution it’s trash. It is now destined for a landfill as waste or to be recycled.

There are many different methods to reuse.

One of, if not the best method, is to create things in such a way as to make them reusable and/or last longer in the first place – durability. This entails developing products that are designed to be long-lived, reused, easily repaired, refurbished, and multi-purposed. Other methods include buying and selling used or pre-owned, renting, loaning and borrowing, and participating in manufacturing waste exchanges where one company’s trash is another company’s treasure.

Why is reuse becoming so important?

Reuse is a direct approach to the challenges of waste reduction, efficiency in use of raw materials, labor efficiency, and conservation of energy. With energy costs skyrocketing it’s more important than ever reuse as much as possible, then recycle. Reuse saves energy starting with the harvesting and creation of raw materials all the way through distribution to the end user. Reuse not only saves us money, reuse has a positive effect on the environment. Overall reuse is simply more efficient and effective than recycling when confronting waste reduction and how it relates to man’s impact on environmental challenges such as global warming, pollution, and exhausting earth’s resources.

How it Helps to Reuse:

• Reuse lowers the need for additional resources
• Reuse conserves energy by preserving the original energy expended to create
• Reuse reduces waste recycling
• Reuse lowers source production
• Reuse off-sets loss of production jobs with greener jobs in the used marketplace
• Reuse lowers pollution though lower production
• Reuse saves money on packaging, transportation, marketing, and purchasing costs
• Reuse lowers hazardous waste production
• Reuse often provides a more affordable supply of goods

One of the most notable ways

that differentiates reuse from recycle is that reuse provides a valuable supply of goods to people, businesses, and charitable organizations that they otherwise could not afford or afford considerably less of. Many a charity is dependent on obtaining supplies of donated goods for the needy and less fortunate to reuse.
Hopefully you have found this information helpful in clarifying the differences between recycle and reuse.

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