Some Vocabulary!

Written by Costanza Gabbrielli

Here are some clarifying definitions of words you can bump into when reading or listening to something regarding the practice of recycling.
Let's start with the best practice.

PRECYCLING:What is precycling? "Pre" means "before" so "precycling" means we can "prevent recycling" by taking a little action before.
Here are some simple examples:
1. If you bring your own bags to the store with you, you not only prevent having to recycle additional bags, you recycle an existing one.
2. If you buy less disposable items or none at all (cloth napkins, towels, and diapers instead of paper ones) you prevent more things from ending up in a landfill, and you don't use any packaging.
So precycling is like preventing, it's the green thing to do!

UPCYCLE: What is upcycling? It is the process by which waste materials are used to provide new, high quality products. Basically, upcycling is recycling and refashioning something at the same time, all while making it new again. It's a great way to reuse.
The goal of upcycling is to prevent wasting potentially useful materials by making use of existing ones - like, for example, creating leather bracelets from an old belt.

DOWNCYCLE: what is downcycling? It is the recycling of a material into a downgraded or lesser quality material, such as recycled plastic or paper. It is then cheaper or weaker than the original product.
Downcycling is more like recycling and reclaiming materials that are headed to the heap.
Although downcycling helps the planet because it keeps things out of the landfills (for a time at least) many times it will eventually end up there. And the original item may have been harmful to the environment when it was created (such as plastic). So, think first - always use less or precycle!

Author of the picture: Urbanmkr