OUR VIEW: Recycling for fashion is a good first step

 We are told to recycle until we are deaf in the ears these days, and with good reason: As Earth’s natural resources continue to be consumed at an alarming rate, reusing old materials will become more and more the norm as resources become more scarce.

The FCSE 3080 class’s Re-Tell fashion show is a great way to start, although you don’t have to start making all of your clothing out of recyclables just yet.

Everyone across the globe doing little acts of recycling during their day will help immensely in the long run. For example, think of how much plastic is used every day, from water bottles to Wal-Mart bags to food containers. These things pile up in trash cans to be shipped off to some landfill where they will remain for thousands of years, waiting to decompose. Instead of throwing these everyday items out, why not just reuse or recycle them?

There are recycle bins everywhere on campus, so finding a soda can or water bottle in the trash can is a sign of laziness and contempt for the environment. Making sure containers make it into the right receptacle is the first step in being a responsible, green citizen.

Don’t just throw out Wal-Mart or Smith’s bags from a trip to get groceries. Use those bags to line small trash cans or use them as lunch bags at work. Plastic takes a long time to break down in landfills, so try to reuse it as much as possible before throwing it out.

Making dresses out of recyclables is great, but is it practical? These dresses will most likely never be worn again. Save your recyclables for future use, if the need to use them comes up. Save shoe boxes to make dioramas for a class, or even for your child’s class. Save an empty plastic water bottle or two, refill it and use it to water plants. Save old, torn-up shirts you will never wear again and use them as cleaning rags. The possibilities for recycling really are endless.

Another important aspect of recycling to remember is to properly dispose of electronics. There are businesses in Cache Valley, the state of Utah and around the country that will properly recycle electronics that could poison the environment if they were buried in a landfill.

In the end, the simplest way to be a responsible recycler is to get the proper material into the proper bin: paper in paper, plastic in plastic, cardboard in cardboard. The journey toward a better planet begins with a single bottle in the right can.