Use the buy recycled gift guide to find where to buy recycled-content gifts in the Portland metropolitan area.
Metro
503-797-1700503-797-1804 TDD
503-797-1797 fax
Buying green
Garbage and recycling › Recycle at work › Buyer's guide to recycled products › Buying green
Why buy recycled? You can conserve natural resources and energy, protect wildlife habitat, keep waste out of the landfill, complete the recycling loop, save money and create jobs.
Conserve natural resources, energy, wildlife habitat and landfill space
Overall, producing recycled products requires fewer resources than manufacturing products without recycled content. As a result, less energy and water is used, less pollution is generated and less wildlife habitat is disturbed. Recycled products are made with materials that might otherwise be buried in a landfill.
According the Worldwatch Institute, 19 percent of the world's wood harvest is used to make paper. Using recycled paper lessens the pressure put on natural resources and helps to keep functioning ecosystems intact. Conservatree, a national authority on recycled paper, estimates that approximately 7.2 full grown trees are saved for every 40 cases (or 1 ton) of 30 percent post-consumer recycled paper purchased instead of virgin fiber paper. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that this amount of recycled paper also saves 2,000 kilowatt hours of electricity, 3,000 gallons of water and keeps 30 pounds of air pollution out of the sky. (Note: When purchasing 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper, these figures about the amount of resources conserved increase threefold.)
The energy required to produce a pound of virgin rubber is 15,7000 BTUs, while that expended in the production of an equivalent amount of recycled rubber is only 4,600 BTUs, a saving of more than 70 percent.
Contribute to a more sustainable future
Buying recycled-content products ensures that the materials collected in your recycling programs will be used again in the manufacture of new products. When buying recycled, your company is demonstrating concern for the environment. If you’re using recycled products, let your customer and co-workers know about it. Oregon’s ecology-minded consumers want to support businesses that are doing their part for the environment.
Complete the recycling loop
The commonly used "recycling loop," the three-arrow recycling symbol, represents the essential stages of recycling:
Collecting recyclable materials, manufacturing the materials into new products and using the new recycled products.
Products with "post-consumer" recycled-content actually contain waste materials that would otherwise have been sent to a landfill. Consumer demand for these products ensures an end use for the materials we separate for recycling in our homes and businesses.
Save money and create jobs
Recycling and remanufacturing produce substantially more jobs than landfilling or incinerating – usually at a lower cost to local government and residential and business ratepayers. In fact, according to Californians Against Waste, recycling results in up to 36 times more jobs than landfilling. Buying recycled-content products help supports local collection programs and sustain the local business.
Need assistance?
Related Links
What is post-consumer recycled content?
Learn the difference between recycled content and post-consumer recycled content, what the recyling symbol means and the truth behind the myths about recycled products.
Metro Recycling Information hotline
The Metro Recycling Information hotline provides recycling and disposal information and referrals in the Portland metropolitan area.
Metro pick
Recycling saves resources and creates more jobs than disposal. Discover how recycling benefits our environment and economy with these fact sheets.
Did you know?
MetroPaint is a high quality, affordable, 100 percent recycled latex paint produced in Portland, Oregon, since 1992. Metro sells recycled latex paint in 5-gallon pails and 1-gallon cans.