Returning to the roots of reuse: could past habits benefit contemporary society?

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It is a rare sight these days to see glass milk bottles on the front doorstep, ready to be collected by the milkman to be reused. Yet, only a few decades ago this was the norm.

 

As glass bottles were more environmentally beneficial than the plastic ones now supplied by supermarkets, could returning to our previous reuse habits help tackle the environmental issues we are faced with in 2017?

Looking back at our sustainable milk bottle routine, we can find an accomplished individual who hugely influenced the process; Hiram Codd. He was an engineer who began the innovative work that led to patenting the ‘Codd bottle’ in 1872, a glass bottle which could be fitted with a marble stopper and rubber seal to make it reusable.

[caption id="attachment_2137" align="aligncenter" width="300"]                                   Codd bottle[/caption]

The invention was well received across the nation and manufacturers began the formation of the bottle exchange, effectively sorting and returning the correct bottles to their original owners if they were branded, creating a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to manage glass in the Victorian era.

This operation is identical to RPS’. We collect wooden pallets for reuse, sorting them and returning those that are branded back to the original suppliers.

Reuse is therefore by no means a new concept – people have been mending and reusing products for centuries.

It’s only with the linear economy model, as shown below, that our society has moved towards disposing materials and making more to replace them. Over the last two decades however, attitudes have started to return to that of reusing and recycling.

Whilst recycling usually gets the majority of screen time, businesses could benefit from a legislative push to improve reuse routines.

At RPS, we believe that all businesses deserve the most cost effective and environmental solutions for packaging, so why not return to our reuse roots!

Do you think your business could benefit by re-establishing old reuse processes? Let us know at @RPS_Limited.