Buy products made out of recycled materials

Increased demand for recycled-content products will help develop stable, long-term markets for recycled material.

Look for and purchase products with labels that say they contain post-consumer material. "Post-consumer material" is something that was used and recycled.  For example, recycled paper products, now widely available, often have labels stating the percentage of recycled content.

More and more packaging is made of recycled content. Common items that may have post-consumer recycled content (look for labels on each of these products):

• Purchase paper and other products that contain the largest amount of post-consumer recycled content.
• Bottles and cans are usually made with some recycled materials.
• Encourage your employer to purchase recycled stationery, note pads, computer and copy paper and other such items. Most office supply stores and paper houses stock recycled paper products.

Minnesota's Recycled Products Directory lists quality, locally produced products made from recycled materials. The database is searchable and continually updated.