RSS
Home
Chicago recycling part 3: Buying recycled products
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
.jpg)
Photo by Margaret Wertheim
Recycling is critical for the environment, because it greatly reduces the amount of trash that goes into landfills. All of the materials that are picked up from the blue bin and electronics recycling programs are sorted for recycling into new products. Not only is it essential to recycle, but it's also important to buy products made from recycled materials. In that way, you vote with your wallet for stores to carry more recycled and environmentally-friendly products. Recycled products require fewer natural resources for their manufacture than products made from new materials. Look for products with the highest percentage of “post-consumer content” that you can find. For example, you can often find paper that contains “100% post-consumer content.”
Here are some easy ways to start buying recycled products:
- Buy toilet paper, paper towels, and paper napkins that are made from 100% recycled paper. These can be found at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and CVS store locations throughout Chicago.
- Buy recycled paper for your printer or fax machine.
- Buy notebooks for school made from recycled paper, or fill binders with recycled paper. OfficeMax sells binders that are made from 70% post-consumer content.
- Preserve brand toothbrushes and razors can be recycled by dropping them off at Whole Foods stores in a bin for #5 plastics or mailing them back to the company with a pre-paid mailing label. The plastic from the toothbrushes and razors combined with other #5 plastics are recycled into dishes and kitchenware that are 100% recycled and recyclable.
Remember to close the recycling loop by not only recycling using the blue bins, but also by buying recycled products.
Related Articles:
Comments
.jpg)
