Hi Anonymous. That is a great question. “Post-consumer” means that the material has been used before in consumer goods. Could be paper that we’ve used and put into our recycling. Could be a plastic bottle that we’ve used and recycled. Could be a recycled newspaper. Could be recycled plastic grocery bags. The point is that it’s actually been used before and now is going to be used again.

“Recycled” could simply mean discards from manufacturing. Say a company produces reams of paper and they have paper scraps leftover from that process. The leftover scraps would be considered recycled if they are used in another product instead of being thrown away. Or a company that makes plastic grocery bags might have scrap plastic sheeting leftover. Trex lumber might use those scraps and call them recycled.

Post-consumer content is preferable to pre-consumer content because by re-using materials, we are actually reducing the need for new virgin materials. If a label simply says “recycled” content without specifying how much of it is “post-consumer,” we have no idea how much of it was previously used and how much is virgin scrap.

I hope I have explained this well. I should probably write a post about it.

Beth

Heh. Do you know, this is almost the same reason my mother and I voted early! Well, she always votes early, but she convinced me to do it too. We were going on vacation last weekend and she told me to vote before we left because, “what if our plane crashed?” I decided she was right, and voted! (The plane didn’t crash by the way)

PS, I really enjoy your blog. Keep up the good work!

What is the difference between recycled and post-consumer? It seems like that label is used for products out of recycled plastic and paper. How can products sometimes be a certain % of one, and a different % of the other? I ask because you are sometimes careful about listing BOTH of those labels when you review products. So, I’m curious to know whether you have already done the research on behalf of your readers. :)

In NZ, our system is quite different. Please don’t ask me to say how, because I couldn’t…I’m a musician, not a politics student :] But yes, here we have the option of voting for a minor party that has environmental issues at the core of it’s policy. http://www.greens.org.nz/front I think that their voice is important, because it is getting to the point that legislative change is the only way to get people to reconsider the consumer attitudes drummed into us by focus on the economy. Environmental issues are also the issues of attitude, change and action. The way to make people look outside of their pockets and see that there is something bigger is legislative change.

“Only after the last tree has been cut down…the last river has been poisoned…the last fish caught, only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.” – Cree Indian Prophesy

Sera, NZ