The source book now contains more than 1,400 products, including a full range of outdoor clothing, such as fleece sweaters, hats and gloves. Other recycled plastic gifts include planters and watering cans made from recycled plastic milk, juice and water jugs, and decorative desk clocks made from recycled computer parts. Americans recycle an estimated 1.4 billion pounds of plastic bottles a year, according to a 1997 study on recycling rates. And new technologies in plastics recycling are enabling manufacturers to invest more to support the use of these post-consumer plastics. For example, Patagonia, the first outdoor clothing manufacturer to adopt recycled fleece into its product line, can currently produce more than 150 garments from 3,700 two-liter bottles.
Consumers can also shop recycled by purchasing gifts packaged in recycled materials.
In addition, consumers can reuse shipping peanuts and bubble wrap to protect valuables, or take them to a local shipping company for them to reuse.