Buying recycled products :Cross Stitch – Environment and greener living
For the recycling industry to be able to work, there has to be a market for recycled materials. By buying recycled products, you are helping create this market and ensure that valuable materials don’t go to waste. Buying recycled doesn’t mean having to skimp on quality either.
People in the UK throw away rubbish fast enough to fill the Albert Hall every two hours. Buying recycled products means less rubbish ends up in landfill and fewer valuable natural resources get wasted.
Generally, products made out of recycled materials instead of new take less energy to produce too, helping to tackle climate change.
The NAPM Recycled Mark shows a product contains at least 50 per cent recycled fibre
Labelling schemes can help you find out if a product contains recycled materials:
- the Mobius Loop symbol with a percentage inside the loop shows that a product contains that percentage of recycled material
- for paper and board, the NAPM (National Association of Paper Merchants) Recycled Mark shows the product contains at least 50 per cent recycled fibre
Find out more on the ‘Recycling and packaging labels’ page.
The most common recycled product is paper. You can easily find recycled toilet rolls, kitchen rolls, tissues, stationery and packing materials, as well as printer, copier and writing paper.
Other recycled products that are available in supermarkets and on the high street include:
- wine and water glasses – and even champagne flutes
- glass jugs and bowls
- school uniforms
- bin bags and tin foil
- reusable shopping bags
Many manufacturers are now using recycled materials in their packaging, plastic bottles and food containers. Check for one of the labels above to see if the product you’re buying contains recycled material.
There are some great gifts available that are made out of recycled materials, both for adults and children. They range from the conventional (glassware, picture frames) to the quirky (bowls made out of telephone cord, cosmetic bags made out of reclaimed seatbelts).
If you are looking for a specific item, search for it online by putting its name and ‘recycled’ in the search box. For more general ideas, you could try searching online for ‘unusual recycled gifts’.
In the past, some recycled products, like paper, didn’t match new products for quality. However, advances in technology mean that recycled products have improved and now often equal the quality of new items.