Trash Talk 101

If you are in the business of blogging about trash you need to know your terminology.  Some terms are often inadvertently interchanged by writers and thus used incorrectly.  Get your words mixed up and your blogging credibility is blown right out of the starting gate. 

So to assist all those environmental bloggers out there I have created a little primer I have entitled Trash Talk 101.  Let's get started!

Reduce

The most straightforward term in the eco-blogger's vocabulary is reduce.  To reduce is to minimize consumption of either energy, food or any item that cannot be reused or recycled.  By reducing the intake of these items, waste / garbage are generally minimized.   OK - that was the easy part of Trash Talk 101.  From here on in it gets a bit more challenging.

Reuse

Bloggers often mix up the term reuse with recycle even though they should be relatively straightforward.  Reuse simply means to use an item again.  Where it gets tricky is that the item doesn't have to be used for a similar application.  For example, car tyres can be reused, either on a different automobile or for something totally different such as house insulation, for example.  Another example of reuse is to donate used clothing to charity.  Providing the recipient simply wears the clothing the term reuse applies.  If the clothing is instead cut and used for rags then the term reuse would not apply.

Recycle

To recycle generally means to process a used material with the intention of generating a new product.   Strictly speaking, recycling is the act of producing a fresh supply of the same material;  office paper for example.  But these days the term recycle also covers the processing of a used material in order to produce a different product.   Recycling often involves the salvage of specific materials, either due to their intrinsic value or due to their hazardous nature.  The term recovery is also used for the act of salvaging materials.

Precycle

To precycle simply means to think before you buy.  By making environmentally sound choices at the time of purchase, such as avoiding products with extra packaging or products made to satisfy only short-term needs, you are precycling.  Precycling avoids or reduces the need to recycle or reuse.

Upcycle

Confused yet?  This is the last term I am covering today.  Upcycle is a term used to describe the act of turning waste materials into a product of greater value or use.  So turning junk mail into mosaic junk to art for example would be an example of upscaling.

So now we have covered all these terms, where does composting fit in?