Reduce, reuse, recycle…  Reduce, reuse, recycle…  Reduce, reuse, recycle…

When you work in the field of sustainable design, you hear that set of words so often it becomes almost meditative.  Ohm…..

But what do those words really mean when it comes to sustainable interiors?  How do they differ from some of the other “re” words, such as reclaim, or re-purpose?  Why are some more important for one product, but practically meaningless for another?

Allow us to try to help you sort it out.  The following is a list of some of the most common “re” terms used to describe sustainable materials, along with our own notes as to why and when it matters.  (All definitions are from Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 11th ed., unless otherwise noted.)

Reduce - “to diminish in size, amount, extent or number”

There is a reason that ‘reduce’ is the first word of the holy trinity of green words.  It is, after all, the most basic and important concept.  Every time we remove something from it’s natural state of being, there is an impact on our planet.   The less we take, the more stable our planet becomes.

Although designers, by the very nature of what they do, must specify “stuff”, that stuff doesn’t have to be as resource intensive.  Imagine the difference in the amount of material used to make a simple, light weight, wall mounted shelf system, vs. a set of heavy, built-in bookshelves.  This principle applies to every imaginable product, but is often overlooked by both designers and manufacturers as an aspect of green.

Reuse – “to use again, esp. in a different way or after reclaiming or reprocessing”

There is the old, WWII adage – “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!”  To reuse materials and furnishings in design projects can take a bit of ingenuity, but it can be done.  Most often it is either building material, such as lumber, or furnishings that work for reuse.

Recycle - “to process in order to regain material for human use”

There is no word in the world of green design that gets more use and creates more confusion than “recycled”.  Essentially, there are two types of recycled material: pre-consumer and post consumer.

Pre-consumer means the materials recycled are obtained before the end user ever lays a hand on them.  Most commonly it is waste product from the manufacturing process.  An example would be where a glass manufacturer collects all the broken glass from their facility, and then recycles it into new product.  This can often lead a manufacturer to tout their green creed by saying their product has recycled content.  However, many manufacturers already reclaim this waste in order to control raw material costs, so take the time to look at the pre-consumer content percentages for other manufacturers of similar product.  If you see that almost all are the same, then you can judge whether or not the manufacturer claiming to be green is really making any unusual effort in that direction.

Post consumer is what most of us think of when it comes to recycled products.  This is what happens to all those beer bottles you put in the recycling bin after the party.  In fact, glass is a great candidate as it can be almost endlessly recycled.  Not so for plastic, which has a very limited number of times it can be recycled before it becomes too degraded to make additional product from.  Metals, such as aluminum, fall somewhere in between as far as how many cycles they can go through and still maintain functional integrity.  Paper also has a limited lifespan in the recycling world, but it has the advantage of being biodegradable at the end of its lifecycle.

Recyclable – “material which can be recycled”*

Approach with caution!  “Recyclable” is a favorite word amongst greenwashers.  How often have you seen a company touting themselves as being green just because their product is made of recyclable materials?  The word is rendered virtually meaningless because, if given enough time and labor, most things can be recycled in at least some sense of the word.  However, it’s unlikely that most of these things will wind up in any place other than a landfill, or shipped over seas where the labor pool is cheap enough to allow for disassembly.   An exception is when a manufacturer will go to extra lengths to design a product, such as an office chair, to be easily taken apart for recycling purposes.   Still, it is best if products do not require new raw materials in their manufacture, but instead rely on recycled.

Repurpose – “to give a new purpose or use to”

Wine barrels made into flooring, wrought iron gates turned into coffee tables, vintage tea towels turned into curtains,…  The list goes on and on.  One of the main advantages to re-purposing items, other than conserving raw materials, is the significant savings in energy.  It takes a lot less energy to make a vase by cutting off the top of an old wine bottle, than it would to take that wine bottle, melt it down, and then blow it in to a vase.  It is a very simple, efficient method of material use, although labor costs can factor in a bit higher.

Reclaim – “to rescue from an undesirable state”

In the world of interior design, this is most often seen in descriptions of wood products.  So what makes the wood “reclaimed”.  Most of it has been used in structures such as barns or old homes.  Sometimes it comes from railroad ties or packing crates.  Whatever its source though, it is all decades, if not centuries, old and therefore does not require the cutting down of existing forests.  Initially one would expect that this wood would less expensive, since it is salvaged material.  However, there is quite a bit of labor involved in removing nails and other foreign matter from the wood, so that lovely grain you get from reclaimed lumber often comes with a bit of a price tag.

Rethink – “to think about again”

In their ground breaking book “Cradle to Cradle: Rethinking the Way We Make Things”, William McDonough and Michael Braungart posited that it was possible to rethink the way we make things so that they become the solution rather than the problem.  One of my favorite examples from the book is the idea for a pair of shoes with wildflower seeds embedded in the biodegradable sole.  Over time, as a person walked, they would deposit hundreds of seeds along the way, creating beauty everywhere they went.

Like any profession, interior designers can get into a rut.  We do things because that is the way they have always been done.  Perhaps if we take a moment to look at the problem anew, we can come up with exciting and sustainable ideas that create their own beauty.

Please feel free to offer additional insight in the comments!

* Our own definition, as the dictionary did not provide a separate entry from “recycle”.