What you put in your recycling bin hasn't truly been recycled until it's been used again in new products. Buying products made from recycled content is important because it keeps the market for these products healthy and growing. In many industries--from food packaging to manufacturing--products made from recycled content are widely available.
Food Containers
You'll find that many food containers contain recycled content, even when their labels don't say so. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, about 50 percent of the material in aluminum beverage cans comes from recycled cans. Glass bottles, tin cans, and gray or brown molded egg cartons are also frequently high in recycled content. The lightweight paperboard boxes used to hold cereals, crackers and other foods are often made with recycled paper as well.
Office Products
Although you can buy office products made from all new materials, high-quality office products made with recycled content are available. Recycled office paper can be transformed into new printer and notebook paper. It can even be used in less expected items, such as facial tissue, the Maine State Planning Office points out. Recycled newsprint can be turned into telephone directories, construction paper and more newspapers. Also, new cardboard shipping boxes are often made from recycled cardboard.
Household Products
You can help increase the demand for household supplies made from recycled content. Products made with recycled content often advertise this fact on their packages, stating what percentage of their product was made from post-consumer recycled material. Paper towels, napkins and toilet paper can be made from recycled office paper. Stationery might contain post-consumer content as well. And new plastic bottles, trash bags, buckets and other plastic items might contain recycled plastics.
Outdoor Apparel and Other Items
When you buy fleece jackets, vests or blankets, you might be buying products made from recycled content. The same goes for sleeping bags and parkas, whose insulation is often made from recycled plastic. Manufacturers also use recycled content in various other products for use outdoors, such as benches, picnic tables and car or bike parts.
Home Improvement Supplies
A home improvement store contains more products made from post-consumer recycled content than you might expect. Post-consumer metal cans can become part of new appliances, steel beams, nails and rebar, while recycled plastic goods gain new life in plastic lumber. Some carpeting is made from recycled fiber as well.
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