Recycling the Unexpected
A Guide to the 3Rs — Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

We often talk about recycling and how it helps improve air quality. Sometimes we may wonder how recycling a newspaper can reduce air pollution. In short, recycling reduces energy consumption and the amount of polluting fossil fuels burned by decreasing the need for landfilling, incineration, and manufacturing of new products, which in turn improves air quality in North Texas.

You can use our past issues as a guide when you have recycling questions. A year ago, we covered just about everything to do with recycling. In March of 2011 we talked about popular stores that will recycle things for you.

It’s no secret that just about anything can be recycled. If there’s a particular product or material you aren’t sure about, just do a Google search of “recycling (said object/material).” You’re sure to find thousands of options. Jonelle Hanson, NCTCOG’s Dallas-Fort Worth Clean Cities Intern, took the liberty of finding out recycling options for something we may not give much thought to, but are almost always using: flooring.

Walk on me (again)
Jonelle Hanson, North Central Texas Council of Governments

Carpet recycling

Before throwing your old carpet out on the curb, consider bringing it to a carpet recycling center. Old carpet can be broken down and turned into building and construction materials, padding for carpet, or an interesting place: head covers on certain Ford engines.

By recycling your carpet, you can help avoid filling landfills with a product that is 100% recyclable.

According to Thomas Holland, board member of Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) and owner of Texas Carpet Recycling, in 2008 an estimated 3.4 billion pounds of carpet were thrown into landfills. This is a staggering statistic, one that can easily be avoided.

When shopping for new floor covering, ask if the store will recycle your old carpet when they install your new floors. If the store doesn’t recycle old carpet, you can visit Carpet Recovery’s website for a listing of carpet recycling centers in your area. The largest in Texas is located in Grapevine, Texas Carpet Recycling.  For a small fee they will accept your carpet and ensure it’s recycled and reused.

Hardwood flooring

If you’re choosing hardwood floors, there are several options that incorporate recycling.

Choosing a hardwood floor that’s been reclaimed is a great choice. Salvage companies remove wood flooring from old buildings, homes, and factories and reprocess the wood for consumers. Old Texas Wood, located in Dallas, reclaims old wood from many turn-of-the-century buildings that have been redeveloped or demolished. Once the wood is removed from the building, they remove the nails, re-sand, and process the wood for future use. Reclaimed wood is great if you’re restoring an old home and want to maintain the old feel of the home. The end result is great-looking hardwood floors with a great story.

Recycled old wood is another option. Recycled wood is different from reclaimed wood in that it is made of different pieces of wood milled together to produce wood-based flooring. This process involves remilling old planks, boards, and strips of wood into a durable floor covering. Wood is processed using materials such as beams, planks and logs from the bottom of rivers. Recycled old wood creates a very durable product without using wood from new growth forests.

Tile flooring

Choosing tile is a great option for allergy sufferers, and easy maintenance makes it a desirable choice for homes. There’s a variety of options for choosing tile constructed of recycled materials.

Several companies offer tile partially made of recycled materials.  Crossville manufactures porcelain tile with 40 percent certified recycled material.  The company’s entire manufacturing process is an eco-friendly process – from recycling the water used in manufacturing to recycling the leftover powder used to create tiles.

Just do one green thing today—it will lead to many more.

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