However, reusing can also refer to the practice of using something again especially in a new way without changing it in any fundamental way. For example, people might reuse an old coffee container as a planter for a small tree or as a holder for paintbrushes. Recycling and reusing help the environment by saving space, energy, and natural resources , and by reducing air and water pollution . When people recycle or reuse things that they would normally throw away, they save outdoor space. Fewer waste products and discarded materials are thrown into crowded city dumps and expanding landfills .
More outdoor space is left open for nature, instead of being filled with great mountains of trash .
Making new products from raw materials requires a lot of energy. Recycling used materials so that they can be used again does not require as much energy. For example, when we turn used paper into pulp to make new paper, crush old glass bottles to make new glass, and melt aluminum cans to make new cans, we save energy because the recycling process uses much less energy than it would take to make new paper, glass, or aluminum cans from raw materials. Reusing saves even more energy than recycling, since no energy is required when we simply use things again without changing them. Recycling is important because fewer raw materials are used and natural resources are saved.