Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This page may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that I have recommended. There is no additional cost to you whatsoever.
Resolving to be a greater recycler is a good New Year’s decision. But there’s an preemptive step you possibly can take approach earlier than recycling. In truth, this step will cut back the quantity of recycling it’s a must to fear about. It’s referred to as precycling. By precycling, you possibly can cut back your spending and your affect on the planet.
What Is Precycling?
Precycling is the follow of avoiding waste earlier than it’s created. It requires considering by the waste created by merchandise you purchase — earlier than you make a purchase order. Is a product constructed from recycled supplies? Is the product recyclable? How a lot packaging is there? Is the packaging recyclable? And do you actually need this product in any respect? Do you might have one thing you may reuse or repurpose as a substitute?
Considering these questions earlier than you make a purchase order will put you on the best way to efficient precycling.
Rather than considering of precycling as “shopping for much less,” consider it as “shopping for good.” For a long time, producers have distracted individuals from contemplating the waste they create by emphasizing the advantages of “disposable” merchandise. As we acquire a higher understanding of the environmental affect of what we purchase, it isn’t essential to cease purchasing, however we should store smarter.
Easy Ways to Precycle
Examples of simple precycling steps embody bringing your individual reusable bags to the grocery retailer to keep away from disposable paper or plastic luggage and shopping for fewer disposable merchandise. Consider shopping for reusable razors relatively than disposable, and cloth towels and napkins as a substitute of paper that shall be used as soon as and tossed out.
When making bigger purchases, equivalent to an equipment or automotive, precycling is vital, too. Will you have the ability to recycle the product when its helpful life is completed? Was it manufactured with minimal affect on the atmosphere and does the maker comply with recuperate the supplies when the product is not usable? Look for producer responsibility data when shopping for to grasp whether or not the producer will responsibly eliminate the product and its packaging on the finish of its helpful life.
Your Purchase Choices Influence Manufacturers
Precycling is a precursor to the circular economy, during which supplies stream by many lifetimes as recycled merchandise. Expressing your precycling decisions additionally units requirements that corporations should meet to get your spending cash.
By combining watchful precycling efforts and recycling the diminished waste that’s produced, the 2 forces dramatically cut back the quantity of waste your family will produce.
This article was initially revealed on January 17, 2019.
