We’ve all been taught to recycle at a young age as a way to help the planet and conserve natural resources. While the purpose of recycling has not changed, its perception certainly has.
Though recycling may seem like something that came about in the late 20th century, we actually have a much deeper history with recycling. As a species, we have been recycling for thousands of years, using materials that took considerable work and time to source and manufacture, such as glass, metals, and paper. At the end of their useful life, items made from these materials could be truly recycled into a new item, over and over again. In fact, glass and metal can be recycled an infinite number of times without losing their fundamental properties. Paper could be recycled a number of times, going down in quality each time, until it can easily be composted, returning carbon and nutrients to the soil. Even clothing and textiles were recycled; using worn-out textiles to be remade into new pieces, patches, or rags for cleaning. Being made of natural fibers, these too could be composted at their natural end of life. This part of recycling remains the same today, if we choose to participate. What has complicated recycling is the introduction of plastics.