Recycling isn't just what goes into the Blue Box. Paper, glass, and plastic are the flagships of our current fascination with recycling -- but recycling means a lot more.

We are realizing that recycling is a necessity for our own survival. The problem is that paper, glass and plastic, while they surely are a large part of what we throw away, are not everything. Together they make up 55 per cent of the waste stream:

• Paper and Paperboard 40%
• Plastic 8%
• Glass 7%

That still leaves 45 per cent of our waste that's not being considered as serious a problem.

If municipal recycling programs assure us these three items are enough, and that by using a Blue Box, we're doing our share, then a huge part of what it means to recycle is being overlooked.

Don't get me wrong. Recycling these standard materials is very important, not to mention that it's being done more efficiently all the time. The growing popularity and awareness of paper, glass and plastic recycling has a lot to do with practicality -- they make up a large amount of our disposable consumer goods. And they are also convenient to handle, in a way that old cupboards or car tires are not. The Blue Box packages recycling itself, so that it's relatively painless to do.

Any kind of system, whether it be a car engine or a company, runs with some basic principles: work is done, a task, no matter how big or small is accomplished. As well, every system has inputs and outputs, raw materials and waste, and a certain efficiency with which these are dealt with, used and wasted.

The same could be said of your home. Goods are brought in, and the stuff that is used up or useless gets chucked. You heat the house with a natural gas furnace, and the heat invariable escapes through the cracks. The groceries you buy are intended to feed the family, but you also end up with all the packaging, plus the food waste.

It's not entirely fair to compare a household with the workings of a machine. Nothing operates with that kind of idealized error-free precision -- not even machines, as any car or computer owner will attest to. Too much is going on to be able to account for everything.

Still, looking at your house as a system will help you recycle more efficiently. You'll begin to notice many of the things that slip through the cracks and into the garbage can.

Reuse is an important part of recycling that is too often neglected. When you reuse, you're generally saving a lot more energy and resources than by sending the same thing off to get reprocessed. Reuse includes fixing up, refurbishing, or retreading something, so it can be used again for the same purpose. Secondary reuse means to turn a used item to some other purpose.

When, to recycle, plastic is melted down to refashion, or when paper is returned to pulp for another go, natural resources are conserved. It usually takes less energy to process a used material.

But no extra energy is needed to reuse. Plus, you won't have to bring your converted, reformed garbage anywhere if a use is found for it around your home.