Read for details--Reuse or recycle? I am a preschool teacher with (I think) a thought-provoking question. I save just about any kind of container to bring to school to reuse in a different way. Large soup or tomato cans become paintbrush or supplies holders. Shampoo and dish detergent containers become sand and water toys. Plastic frozen dinner containers become paint and sorting trays. All of these things are recycle-able in my town.

So here%26#039;s my question: Which do you think is better for the environment? To reuse a recycle-able item for a year or so, then throw it out, or just recycle it? I work in an open classroom with 11 teachers in one huge room, and we all share things. So when other teachers get tired of cleaning the plastic paint trays, they go in the trash. When a dish detergent container gets cracked, it goes in the trash. So should I stop brining stuff in and just recycle it?

Additional Details

9 months ago

Some great advice but the reason I said that I was in an open classroom and didn%26#039;t have complete control over what goes on is that no one else there bothers to recycle. And I don%26#039;t actually see them throw the stuff out; it just disappears when I%26#039;m not around. I can%26#039;t control 10 other adults who don%26#039;t give a kitty; I can only do what I can to minimize the damage. With that in mind, what do you think about my orginal question?
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