Want to learn how you can help make recycling work? We all already know about the right way to recycle, but did you know that it’s just as important to buy recycled products.
There are lots of benefits to buying recycled. Using fewer resources and not wasting what we already have is a good start.
We all want to know what happens to our recycling. Does it really get recycled? The best way to find out is to start buying it back yourself. This way, you know what happens to some of it, at least.
As consumers, we need to support the process at both ends, recycle right, and buy recycled.
What is a Recycled Product?
A recycled product is one that contains a percentage of material that comes from recycled plastic, glass metal, or paper. For example, a plastic bottle that is made with recycled PET plastic.
The recycled material comes from plastic bottles that have been recycled by people like you and me. It’s sorted, cleaned, compressed, transported to a recycling facility where it is shredded, melted, and reformed into pellets. It is then sold to a manufacturing plant, and then it’s used in new bottles.
Learn more about the lifecycle of a plastic bottle.
There are many examples of recycled products, from the aluminum foil in your kitchen to your office’s recycled paper.
Nowadays, recycled products come in many different shapes and colors. They are not just practical consumables like office paper. Companies use recycled materials to make clothes, swimwear, outdoor gear, kitchen utensils, kids’ toys, pet toys, and garden and renovation supplies.
Take a look at our brand directory to find amazing recycled products.
Benefits of Buying Recycled Products
There are many benefits to buying recycled products including:
- Protecting the environment
- Supporting environmentally responsible companies
- Creating a sustainable recycling industry
- Increasing the demand for our recyclables
- Being a champion for the Circular Economy
Protect the Environmental
Buying products with recycled content helps to reduce our reliance on natural resources. Our planet has a finite amount of resources, and we are depleting them at a very fast rate.
Plus, every time we extract minerals or oil from the earth, we use a great deal of energy and other resources to do so. When we only use the material once and then send it to landfill, we waste the material and the energy and other resources used to extract it.
Minimizing our need for virgin resources helps to reduce our impact on the environment. It means there will be less demand for oil and mineral extraction, reducing the need for mining and the risks associated with it.
We can also lower how much water we use, decreasing our need to create dams and divert water from creeks and rivers. Fewer trees need to be cut down, and we can also save loads of energy, reducing our carbon impact.
Not to mention saving the material from landfill and the potential environmental pollution in the future.
Here are some examples of how much you can save when you buy something made with recycled content.
Support Environmentally Responsible Companies
Many companies are working hard to minimize their impact on the world and make their products and business more sustainable. When you buy recycled products, you support the innovation that has gone into designing and creating their products.
To top that, many of these companies give a lot back to their communities. From joining in beach clean-ups, pulling a pound of waste from the ocean, or supporting more local projects like assisting the homeless. Many of these companies have big hearts as well as sustainable ambitions.
By backing these companies, you also help encourage other brands to take more responsibility of their impacts.
One of our missions at Everyday Recycler is that we will no longer be needed. We hope that one day everyone will know how to recycle right and that buying recycled products will be normal. In fact, we dream of a day when buying a product that cannot be recycled will be the exception.
We have a long way to go, but every little bit helps.
One of the best reasons to buy recycled is to help support this vision. Buying recycled says “I SUPPORT A WORLD FREE OF WASTE“. It means you back the companies who are making the effort to be more sustainable and taking responsibility for the environment.
Take a look at our Brand Directory to find out more about these companies.
Create a More Sustainable Recycling Industry
When we buy recycled products, we also help to create a demand for the materials. This results in more sustainable recycling industry. It can create a steady demand for the material resulting in a more stable market for the materials.
Recycling companies need to make a profit, just like any other company. Plus, the more profitable they are, the more likely they will invest in their business. This makes the whole system work a lot better.
Buy recycled products to help make recycling work.
Support the Circular Economy
Choosing products made from recycled content increases the likelihood of successfully shifting to a circular economy. A circular economy aims at eliminating waste or pollution by keeping materials in use by regenerating them again and again.
It is the opposite of what we currently do with most things. We extract resources, make something from it, use it, and then throw it away; this is called a linear economy.
When you buy recycled products, you are keeping materials in the loop and supporting a circular economy.
How to Close Your Own Loop
There are two main steps in your own circle, Recycling Right and Buying Recycled Products. You can help to close your own loop by doing both of these things.
Actually, there are a few more steps like buying less stuff and using what you have, but we will get to those in some other articles.
What About the Quality
Recycled products have come a long way, and they can no longer be considered lower quality than products made with virgin materials.
For example, Econyl creates recycled nylon that is the same quality as nylon made from virgin plastic. They use a depolymerization process that breaks the nylon polymers down to their original parts and then remakes the nylon.
Aren't Recycled Products More Expensive
Recycled products are not more expensive than products made from virgin materials. Yes, there are some expensive recycled products, but this often has more to do with the designer or brand name.
There are plenty of great examples of reasonably priced recycled products. It’s more important to consider if you really need the item and whether it will last. If it costs a little more, then it will be worth it to know you are not only getting a better quality product but one that does a lot of good for the planet.
Where Can I Find Recycled Products
It’s Easy! Go to our recycled shop or brand directory and search for the item you are looking for. You can even add to your location if you prefer to shop locally.
Not sure where to start, then check out our BUY RECYCLED GUIDES. Here are a couple of our favorites.
The Wrap
You have the power to make a change that will have a lasting effect on the world. Vote with your dollar and support the innovative and responsible companies who are finding a way to use your trash.
Don’t be afraid to spread the word either. Tell your friends and family at your next BBQ or in the office. Buy recycled gifts for your loved ones. Get your kids on board too.
