PREcycling: Preventing waste before it happens. It’s the reducing/reusing two-thirds of Reduce/Reuse/Recycle and it also involves rethinking. It’s preventative medicine for the Earth.

Recycling is great but it requires energy to convert waste into a reusable product. And it always involves at least some loss of the original material. Precycling reduces the problem by using less in the first place.

Here are some ideas of precycling:

• When making purchases, avoid single-serving packages. Buy in bulk or buy concentrated products (like laundry soap). 
• Buy in larger quantities to reduce packaging. 
• Buy items that will last. 
• Use cloth grocery bags. 
• Avoid junk mail. 
• Use electronic versions of magazines or newspapers/newsletters (like SANC's!)
• Take lunch in reusable containers.
• Use cloth napkins and rags instead of paper. 
• Borrow or rent items that you only use occasionally. 
• Use double-sided copies when you do need paper.
• Buy used products when appropriate.
• Give your gently-used items to someone else.
• Check books out of the library rather than buying them.
• Share books that you’ve loved with the people you love. 

You get the idea! Get creative and make up your own precycling project.

Recycling is good...PREcycling is better!