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Issue date: 10/1/08 Section: Features

As the environmental status of our planet quickly diminishes, people are starting to wonder what more they can do to reduce their ecological footprint.
Many Americans have started to recycle and conserve, but there is a more efficient way to save the planet - reusing. Reusing is commonly confused with the recycling process, where the item is broken down into raw materials, which are then used to make a new item all together. As its name implies, the reusing process uses the item more than once. This includes the conventional reusing of an item, where it is simply used again for the same function as it was used before. Or one can use the new-life reusing process where the item is utilized for a new function, without being broken down into raw materials as recycling does.
"Recycling is a great first step, but reusing that is the leap that needs to come next. In a disposable society where many items are discarded long before they have actually outlived their use this process can greatly help us move toward a greener future," says Trey Granger of Earth 911.
Trey Granger and the other employees of Earth 911 host a Web site, which can be found at www.earth911.org, and a toll free telephone hotline, 1-800-CLEANUP, to disperse local information on recycling, reusing and product stewardship to the American consumer. They are hoping it empowers people to act locally, live responsibly and contribute to sustainability.
Some might not think of this as a big deal, but if they looked at in terms of lifetime clothing usage, they'll start to see how reusing can make a difference. Fashion is a $345 billion industry in the United States and according to the EPA Office of Solid Waste, the average American throwing away 68 pounds or more of clothing each year. The reuse of these outdated or ill-fitting garments becomes imperatives. Making a simple white T-shirt takes 528 gallons of water, one-third of a pound of chemicals, and 14,625 miles of travel. But after that T-shirt is out of style and ready to be tossed, the reuse of it could cut down on resources needed to create a new one.
There are multiple Internet sites and even free iTunes podcasts that can help with ideas and directions for reusing everyday items.
For conventional reusing there are sites like www.freecycle.org and www.reuseitnetwork.org, which are on-line forums that connect community members and help reduce the strain on our natural resources by keeping useable items in circulation, reducing the need to manufacture additional goods. Or if a bit of clothing swapping is interesting check out Rehash, at www.rehashclothes.com, where people can trade clothing and accessories for others.

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