Using products or packages more than once is a great way to reduce the flow of garbage. Save boxes, bags, tins, jars, and plastic containers. You can usually find innovative ways to reuse these items in your home, garage or office. Give away any unwanted clothing you may have. Instead of throwing worn clothing away, give it to a relative, a friend or a charity.
Recycling is the collection and reprocessing of materials into new, usable products.
Right now paper, glass, steel, aluminum and plastic are the most recycled items in the United States. Most communities choose to have residents' recyclables picked up at curbside by their town's sanitation department. Others have instituted voluntary drop-off programs which requires residents to take recyclables to a designated recycling center in or near their town. Either way, the various used materials wind up at a recycling center. At the center, these materials are separated and made available to manufacturers who clean them and make new products out of them.