Inspired by Laurel’s post, “What is Recycling“, I began researching, well, what exactly recycling is. Turns out, recycling isn’t as great as we think. We’re taught from a young age the 3R’s – Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle – but what we’re not taught is the relative importance of each. I’m not saying we shouldn’t recycle; of course, if we’re going to buy something that is not directly reusable it makes sense to recycle it and salvage whatever material possible. Unfortunately, however, the energy saved from recycling varies substantially by product class. According to popularmechanics.com, recycling aluminum and PET (the material used in plastic soft drink bottles) results in huge energy savings of 96% and 76%, respectively. Other materials are not recycled as efficiently, with recycled newsprint saving only 45% of energy, and recycled glass a meager 21%, compared to what it would take to make the materials from scratch. So while Laurel is completely justified in being angry at the lack of recycling she witnessed in the US, and this makes me upset as well, I think we need to focus on the other 2 R’s much more than recycling. Maybe don’t buy the bottle of Powerade in the first place, or if you do, reuse it for awhile! The beer industry is a great example of this, in which glass beer bottles are taken back by liquor stores and given to the beer companies to clean and reuse. More products need to follow suit with this concept, to a point where, I hope, you can go to the grocery store with your own containers and just buy bulk amounts of every item – no packaging required.