Precycling: How to reduce your waste before even buying an item (Week 5)
Amanda Drews, 5 minute read
In this post we’ll discuss:
- What precycling is
- Precycling organization
- Alternatives to buying something new
- Keeping an eye out for greenwashing
- Choosing a company to buy from
- Considering the material an item is made out of
- Remembering the humans behind the item
- Don’t feel like reading? Watch the video instead!
So what is Precycling?
Precycling is a process of critical thinking before you buy a product in order to reduce your waste in the long run
It’s about choosing the best product for your balance of needs, wants, and your situation. Carefully consider an item’s place in the Waste Management Hierarchy Pyramid and identify possible alternatives to buying new.
The real basis of precycling is planning the future of the thing you buy and that’s if you buy it. So many people have multiples of items or buy things they don’t need. That’s totally fine to a point! We buy all sorts of crap we don’t actually need. Wants can greatly improve our quality of life and makes us happy. Do you really need that vacation, a TV, a dog or that weird collection of porcelain unicorns you have? Probably not. Does it enhance your life? Yes? Great. Live your lives. But do you need 8 similar pairs of jeans or are you really going to use that mini cotton candy machine? Probably not.
You are probably already doing a bit of precycling naturally
Lets’ say you’ve got a hankering for waffles. Delicious, delicious waffles. But you wait to go to the grocery store until you need more items instead of driving out to the store just to satisfy your one craving. Unless you or your partner are pregnant. Then you best go get those waffles NOW!
First, you decide how to get to the store. Walk, bike, or drive. You pick up most of your ingredients and just have the syrup left. You think, “Should I get the locally made syrup or Mrs. Butterworth’s? Should I go for the one in the glass or the plastic? How much syrup will I need? There’s this giant sized one and a smaller one.”
This is all done pretty quickly in your head based on what options you have and what’s practical. If you are just buying waffle supplies, walking or biking isn’t an issue because you aren’t using gas or electricity to get there. Plus you can carry those few items home. If you are doing your shopping for the week or month, you may need a car. You may not have a local syrup or you may just really like the big brand name. Maybe your kids are picky, it’s raining outside, you’re on a budget, you have limited time, your recycling center doesn’t take that type of glass. Do you see where I’m going with this?
The first step in precycling, before you are even considering buying a thing, is having your life somewhat organized
- Do a general cleanup of your home to make sure you can see the items you already have.
- Make sections in your closet and drawers so you can see what you have in your wardrobe. Get rid of the stuff that doesn’t fit you or you know you’ll never wear again and send it on it’s way to someone else.
- Keep a list of things you need so you can plan out shopping trips for the same day in order to cut down on the energy required for getting to the store.
- Label refrigerators and pantries. Find the right place in the fridge for food items here so they stay fresh longer and live in the correct temperature.
- Group your personal products together either by the type of product or by who uses it.
OK, you’ve decided that you do need this thing
Do you have to buy it new? With food and personal care products this is usually yes, but for everything else, first think if you could:
- Rent it
- Borrow it
- Buy it used
- Make it
Think about Ikea furniture, like a bed. Odds are you can probably find one on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace for cheaper and already assembled. This not only potentially saves you time and money but it cuts out the costs of manufacturing a new bed in resource materials, energy to make it, and transporting it.
Or maybe your item is food. Think about programs like Imperfect Foods or Misfits Market where that intimidating looking cucumber doesn’t exactly meet the standards for the grocery store because of its shape or size. Perfectly good cucumber, but just doesn’t look pretty and will probably otherwise go to waste. These programs can make food more accessible to people on a budget but they certainly aren’t a perfect solution to the problem of food waste overall. Here’s an article on some of the downsides to these programs.
Look in your community for specialty reuse events or centers such as the Reuse Room at our Recycling Zone. You can go in and pick up paint, cleaning chemicals and all sorts of other things that other people have dropped off and take them home for free.
Could you make the item?
And if so will it be better, more resource efficient, durable or cheaper than if you bought it? Unless you are trying to use up materials you already have, it may not always be the more eco-friendly choice to make something yourself.
The next step is determining which companies you want to support
This is full of ethical, political, and personal preferences. We talked a little about this when we were making our greener goals. Some companies have the right product for you but may be huge contributors to a campaign that you don’t agree with. Maybe there’s another product that’s similar that you could opt for instead, even if it’s not your absolute favorite.
Think about the ethics of the company as a whole and who you want to support. Imagine yourself shaking hands with the owner of the company, handing them your money, and telling them, “Yes, I like what you are doing and want to support it!” If you don’t feel good at the end of that handshake, maybe it’s time to reconsider your purchase.
Maybe you only want to support companies whose entire product line is eco-friendly and sustainable. Maybe you want to support a company who just started offering green options to tell them you want them to come out with more things like this. You may be willing to pay more for newer technology or may want to only support products that are available to everyone despite their income.
Factor in transportation and manufacturing energy costs
Is your item:
- Made out of bamboo but has to be shipped from China?
- Produced locally and only sold in a couple shops around town?
- Made efficiently in bulk or is that efficiency negated because of the size of the operation?
- Created in a factory run on power from a renewable energy source such as solar or wind?
- Produced far away? How is it going to make it to you? Plane, truck, ship?
While I don’t have numbers right now for energy tradeoffs, these are all just things to consider. A company that is trying to do right will be able to give you answers when you ask about any of these factors.
Consider the materials the product is made of
According to Earth 911, paper can only be recycled up to 7 times before the fibers get too short to produce a quality end product. Plastic is sometimes recyclable for a couple rounds depending on the market, its color, and type. Glass and aluminum can be recycled over and over again indefinitely. I know we don’t like to face mortality, but think about the end of the life of your product before purchasing it. Will your item be out of style in a couple years or does it have that timeless look? Is it durable enough to last you the length of time you are hoping to have it for?
Look for items already made from other items. Maybe it’s made out of post-consumer recycled materials. That’s cool but keep in mind when a label says something like, “up to x amount % recycled materials”, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s on that higher end.
If labels boast the item is now made from “half the amount” or “twice as much whatever“, think about how the item was before. Something being made out of 1% recycled materials in the past may now only be 2%. Greenwashing anyone? Just keep things in perspective.
Don’t forget about the people involved in the production of your product
Let’s put a little humanity back into the items we buy. Remember that handshake from earlier with the owner of the company you are buying from? Let’s say you got to meet the person who physically made your item.
How are they doing? Are they:
- Working on a living wage and able to pay rent, feed their family and have access to healthcare?
- Working in a safe environment?
- Able to provide a safe place for their children?
- Children themselves?
- Choosing to be there?
- How do they react when you tell them you buy that product?
I think this is the issue that more and more people are starting to think and care about as they learn about product sourcing. What’s the point in protecting the planet if the other members of our species are suffering?
All these things to think about!
I know it’s sounds like a daunting list to think about every single time you buy something, but for some of your purchases, it will only take seconds. With the ones that take longer, don’t give up! By putting in the legwork now, you are learning things and practicing habits that will last you a lifetime.
Move onto Week 6 to learn about What Wish-cycling is and the Rules of Recycling.
- Get yourself organized! If you are following along with our 52 Week Challenge, you probably already have done this and are sick of me telling you to get organized. I promise, it will stop soon.
- Think about some of your favorite products. See if you can figure out answers to some of the questions on how the item is produced. If you can’t find information right on the company’s website, see if they have a FAQ or “Contact Us” section with a chat feature, email, or (gasp!) a phone number. Practice questioning with 3 different companies.
- When you are about to purchase something, consider:
- Alternatives to buying it new
- The company you are buying it from and what they support
- Where your item is being produced and how it’s going to get to you
- The materials your item is made of
- What happens to your item when you are done with it
- Who physically is making your item and if they are being taken care of
- Does your item fit your true needs?
4. Learn the Rule To Recycling and find out if you are Wish-cycling in Week 6.
