Recycling: What it is and Why it’s Important

In this day and age, and most especially with all the technology and information readily available at our fingertips, it’s easy to keep yourself educated on current events and important issues. On the flipside, however, it’s even easier to find yourself over-exposed to certain media, and as a result, find yourself completely desensitized to old news. Regrettably, this is the case for many people when it comes to the concept of recycling. We know it’s important, we know humanity’s future could be quite literally on the line if we don’t do it – and yet, it’s easy to skip. “Oh that yogurt container? One more little piece of trash won’t make a big difference – I’ll do it tomorrow.” For many, tomorrow never comes, and all our little pieces of ignored trash become one big problem.

The good news is, recycling is about more than just that little yogurt container. It’s also about the companies you choose to support, and their practices on a much bigger scale. Giving your dollars to an eco-friendly company doesn’t cost you anything more than a little research, and it makes a big impact on a larger scale than it otherwise would as a lone individual. We’re very proud to be one of those companies, so we’re proud to educate people on what recycling actually is, why it’s important, and how we can all make a difference together.

On a basic level, the concept of recycling is to reuse and repurpose that which would otherwise be turned into waste. When most of us think about recycling, we’re thinking about dropping trash into the blue container with the triangle symbol – that is definitely accurate, but recycling can also be more personalized, such as converting a nice but well-worn hand towel into a rag, or cleaning and reusing an empty jar of pickles so you don’t have to buy plastic tupperware. Anything that you can do to prevent potential waste from becoming actual waste would be considered recycling, and even the smallest act can make a big difference.

On a personal level, this looks like avoiding disposing items whenever possible, but if they do need to be disposed of, it means seeing if they can be properly recycled and ensuring they don’t find their way into a garbage can. On a business level, it can be a little more complicated. First and foremost, businesses purchase products in much larger quantities than individuals – so being an eco-friendly business means purchasing products that are either made from recycled materials, or are recyclable after their use – hopefully both, though that’s not always possible. If you throw away one tiny yogurt cup, it adds up over time, if we throw away dozens of empty plastic cleaning bottles, it adds up immediately. It also means choosing products that are not harmful to produce, and following general business practices that minimize waste at every opportunity.

Ultimately, as individuals and businesses, we all have choices to make every single day on what we do with our waste. Do we find a way to make it ‘new’ again by giving it a new function? If that’s not an option, do we clean it off and recycle it properly, or do we throw it away and promise to do better tomorrow? The choice is up to all of us, but our promise to our clients is that we’re trying to make the right ones, so you can know that by supporting us, you’re making the right decisions, too.