Precycling

From Swikipedia

Introduction

Precycling is the process of eliminating waste at the beginning of a process. It is also known as ‘Source Reduction’.

Brief Description

Importance of Precycling

A large amount of energy is consumed in melting down items for the purpose of recycling them. This also results in a lot of pollution. While it may cut down on the amount of trash that is going into landfills, it is not a sustainable answer to the problem of waste. The original three pronged push for trash management is "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle." Precycling then, is an emphasis on "reducing and reusing", while harnessing the momentum and popularity of the term "recycle."

Thus, Precycling results in:

• Environmental benefits such as conservation of energy, landfill space, and natural resources

• Economical benefits, such as reduced waste hauling, and disposal costs

Precycling practices

• Buying consumables in bulk to reduce packaging

• Buying consumables in recyclable packaging over non-recyclable packages, or in least possible packaging

• Avoiding purchase of disposable items

• Avoiding junk mail, and using electronic media for reading materials, especially throwaway items such as magazines or newspapers

• Using an item or material for another purpose prior to use for its original purpose, thus avoiding using some other material or object, for example: a bowl of fruit and nuts on a holiday table as decor prior to eating it precludes buying or using something else

• Carrying cloth bags for shopping, instead of taking new shopping bags every time one goes out shopping

• Buying more of concentrated products as they reduce the packaging

Precycling Kit

• A Tupperware or non-disposable container

• Silverware set

• A cloth napkin or handkerchief

• A thermos or water-bottle within a cloth bag that can double as a grocery/shopping bag

References:

http://www.austinenergy.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precycling

http://precycling.recycle.pdx.edu/

http://www.planetpals.com/precycle.html