| Apply all the steps of purchase discussed
under Reduce. Reusing products delays or avoids
having them end up in the landfill. How can you practice reuse? Donate,
repair, refill, reuse, rent, rebuild, resell. Think of new uses for used
items. We can lessen our affect on the environment by buying used or pre-owned
items such as clothing, furniture, appliances, automobiles,
homes, and everything in-between. Used items usually cost us less than
buying “new,” and reduce production costs to the environment.
A great example of local reuse is glass. Glass bottles and jars that are
brought to the Hal Flanders Recycling Center are taken to a local processing
facility. The glass is crushed and tumbled, resulting in a pea-sized, smooth-edged
aggregate that is perfect for using in place of "sand" in landscaping applications.
See it used like this at One Way Plant Nursery in Alpine and the Gage Gardens
in Marathon.
In addition to supporting local thrift stores
and garage sales, we can use Freecycle
to find new homes for items we no longer want. Freecycle is a local (Brewster
County) email network where anyone can post something they want to give
away.
To swap, buy, or sell items, another local online
network is Brewster
County Swap.
Both of these email groups are a great way to
keep useable items out of the landfill and build community at the same
time!
Other great ideas for reuse include composting,
rainwater
catchment systems, grey-water
systems, and shredding used paper to make papercrete.
Reusing items is only as limited as your imagination. |
