index > Today's Earth, Our Future > 7. Let's not be wasteful > Be Eco-Smart. Reuse Bottles and Other Containers

Be Eco-Smart. Reuse Bottles and Other Containers

When you want to have another cup of juice at home, do you throw away the empty glass and grab a new one? Of course you don't! That would be completely wasteful! You'd just pour yourself another serving in the same glass, right?

With juice that's canned or cartoned, you probably wouldn't think twice about tossing the empty container and reaching for a new one, but isn't this just as wasteful as throwing away a used glass and getting a new one every time you have a drink?

In a town called Kiyosato--a summer resort, in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan--there's a unique ice cream shop. This shop sells its take-out ice cream in polystyrene foam containers that keep the ice cream chilled until the customer reaches their home. When you return this box to them, they subtract the price of a new box from your next purchase. This is a good example of one way to have an economical and environmentally friendly "second helping."

Another example of this can be seen at a take-out deli in Tokyo, where they pack lunches into boxes that their customers bring with them to the shop. Since typically, plastic take-out containers go straight into the trash can after using them only once, this system of using containers over and over is very eco-smart.

In Germany and Sweden, used PET (short for "polyethylene terephthalate," pronounced "POLLY-ETHEL-LANE TERRY-THAY-LATE") plastic bottles are collected, washed and are used several times. Each time a PET bottle gets washed, a mark is put on the bottle to show how many times it has been used. In this way, PET bottles in those countries get used as much as 20 to 30 times.

These practices--the repeated use of containers such as bottles, lunch boxes and PET bottles, without changing their original function--are what we call "reuse."

In Japan, most PET bottles are recycled, not reused. This means they're collected and shredded into tiny pieces, then washed and melted into plastic again, or in other words, back into a "raw" material, which is used to make other products like fabric for clothing, carpets and coat hangers.

This practice of breaking down a product into a raw material to be used to make a new product--in other words, putting it back into the cycle of product-making--is what we call "recycling." So, for example, while "reuse" means that a PET bottle is used again in its original form, "recycling" means that a PET bottle is made into a raw material to become something entirely new. While recycling these bottles does, in fact, reduce the overall amount of bottles that go into landfills daily, it doesn't help reduce the amount of new bottles that are being made each day, using up our earth's valuable resources that could be put to better use. And what's more, the process of recycling uses up a lot of energy (and sends out CO2, or carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere, too!)

So, in other words, recycling is important to us, but when we think about our precious planet and its limited resources, reuse makes much more sense. Before throwing anything away, stop and ask yourself if it can be used again!

Send your opinion

Please let us know what you think about our website.

Is the information interesting?
Are some words or sentences too difficult for you to understand?
Do you have any ideas to improve the website?

We might share your advice with our volunteers and supporters.
They will be encouraged by your feedback.

Please note in the text box below if you don't want us to share your comments with our staff.

Thanks for your help!