Reuse: Recycling’s much less fashionable sister

I recently read a report from Canadean about reusable beverage containers that really opened my eyes to the practice of reusing beverage bottles that I hadn’t much considered before.

The report reminded me that glass and PET containers are reliable and sturdy containers that can be used many times before wearing down. I consume many beverages out of PET and glass bottles and when they are finished I rinse them out and recycle them, but seldom reuse them. According to Canadean, in the US, before World War II, nearly all soft drinks were sold in refillable glass bottles, which were used as many as fifty times. But, the volume share of such containers in the US soft drinks market has declined from 100% in 1940 to less than 1% in 2000 and has not risen since.

Canadean reports that much of the movement away from refillable glass (and refillable containers in general) has to do with the rise of the PET bottle, patented in 1973. Refillable PET bottles are available but, like their glass counterparts, their application is limited.

 But as consumers, we can simply reuse them ourselves, can’t we? Why not wash out the sports drink container and reuse it several more times? Or the glass tea bottle with the screw on metal cap? The good news is that many of us are getting into the habit of recycling our packaging after consumption. We know recycling well, but I think it is time we all got to know it’s less popular sister, Reuse.