Reuse of anything is the easiest and best way to recycle. Save containers, bags, boxes, building material scraps - anything that you can put to another use later.
- Use cloth towels and napkins instead of paper ones.
- Use rechargeable batteries instead of disposable ones.
- Reduce packaging waste by buying food in large quantities or bulk. Store it in reusable containers.
- Reduce the need to recycle paper by getting off the junk mail lists. Why should trees be destroyed for mail you don't even want? Write to:
Mail Preference Service
Direct Marketing Association
6 East 43rd St.
New York, NY 10017
Ask them to stop selling your name and address to direct mail companies. This should reduce the amount of junk mail you will receive. Be sure to give both your name and your spouse's name.
- Avoid waste by not buying disposable shavers, flashlights, cameras, plastic plates, cups, and similar products.
Recycling is only effective when you buy products made from recycled materials. Fortunately, the list is growing every day. If you are in the Denver area sometime, you may want to visit the 'Complete the Cycle Center', probably the first museum and resource center dedicated to displaying new recycled products! All kinds of recycled products are on display, even the museum's carpet is a recycled product, made from plastic pop bottles. The center shares a building with the commercial Tri-R recycling company, so visitors can see both the processing of waste and the finished products! Funded with an EPA start-up grant, the center opened in December 1990. For information about tours contact:
Complete the Cycle Center
Box 16664
3600 E. 48th Ave.
Denver, CO 80216
(303)333-3434
For more information on carpets manufactured from recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate) soda pop bottles, contact: IMAGE Carpets Inc. PO Box 5555, 112 Turkey Mountain Road NE, Armuchee, GA 30105 1-800-722-2504
IMAGE claims they use 20,000 tons of bottles each year! ***
