FROM UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI EXTENSION
SOUTHWEST REGIONAL NEWS SERVICE
Jeff Barber, housing and environmental design specialist
Headquartered in Barton County
Tel: (417) 682-3579
E-mail: barberj@missouri.edu

First person column …
Reuse and Recycle When Cleaning Out Clutter

An important aspect of ‘Spring Cleaning’ is taking out the clutter, cleaning up and then living refreshed.  Following the recent observance of Earth Day on April 22, perhaps we should consider these activities in a new light.

According to the National Recycling Coalition, it takes 95 percent less energy to recycle aluminum than it does to make it from raw materials. Making recycled steel saves 60 percent, recycled newspaper 40 percent, recycled plastics 70 percent, and recycled glass 40 percent.

This recognizes the energy captured in these objects, often called “embodied energy.” These savings also far outweigh the energy created as by-products of incineration and landfilling.  

All too often in our consumption society, we simply throw items away when we are finished with them.   The myth of having a ‘disposable society’ ignores the fact that there really is no ‘away’ in ‘throw away’.  We must realize the value in reuse and recycling.

So what can you do? Barber recommends taking some of the following steps.

* Look for opportunities to reduce, reuse and recycle.

* Become more aware of the packaging used in products.

* Talk to your local officials about the resources available for recycling.  Also, check with your refuse company about options they offer.

* Setup or resume a place in your home to make recycling easier.

* Empty the closets.  Clothing that we neither want nor wear can easily have a second life through charity clothing banks, secondhand stores or even fiber reclamation. Additionally, we can often find items that we can use when visiting thrift shops, thus building the demand for such items.

* Recycle instead of disposing of old magazines, newspapers, waste paper and phonebooks.  Springfield companies divert paper from the landfill to create pet litter.  A Joplin company produces cellulose insulation from this trash, resulting in continued energy savings during its ‘new life’ as insulation.
 
Visiting with some family members experienced enough to recall the Great Depression and World War II will quickly offer stories of conservation and recycling.  These values during those trying times may very well have determined their success.

Just keep the success of that generation in mind this year when you are cleaning out closets. Be resourceful and recycle, don’t just fill up bags heading to the landfill.


Jeff Barber can be reached in the Barton County Extension Center at (417) 682-3579.

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Barber has been an architect, primarily in southwest Missouri, since 1993. His projects have included single and multi-family dwellings, retail buildings, churches, schools, banks and hospitals. He was a design consultant for the new fire station and storm shelter in Pearce City to replace the building which was destroyed by tornados in May 2004. He has taught at the University of Missouri-Columbia, as well Missouri State University, Drury University and the University of Oklahoma and he has been with MU Extension since 2005. He earned a master of architecture from the University of Oklahoma, with an emphasis in architectural building technology and sustainable design. He has a Bachelor’s in art and architecture from Drury University. As the only MU Extension housing and environmental design specialist in southwest Missouri, he works with audiences in 16 counties including Barry, Barton, Cedar, Christian, Dade, Dallas, Greene, Hickory, Jasper, Lawrence, McDonald, Newton, Polk, Stone, Taney and Webster.