Did you know there is no official symbol to represent the action ‘reuse’ in the sustainability world? People often mistake the three arrows of the ‘recycle’ symbol to stand for ‘reuse, reduce, recycle.’ Those three arrows actually represent the three steps in the recycling loop, including collecting, manufacturing, and buying products made from recycled goods.
In 1969, a recycled paperboard company issued a challenge to art and design students across the U.S. to raise awareness of environmental issues. Gary Anderson, a college student at the University of Southern California, created the icon now known as the universal recycling symbol.
Earth911.com hopes to make reuse as prevalent and recognizable as recycling by hosting a competition to design a reuse symbol. The winning design will receive a $500 prize, and the symbol will be made a part of the public domain to be reused, remixed and distributed without royalties.
Potential entrants have until Aug. 22 to submit their designs. Then, a voting period will run Aug. 23 through Sept. 6 to allow the public to determine which design is best. On Sept. 13, the winner will be announced.
Earth911.com partnered with GOOD Maker to host the contest and require the following for submissions:
- Symbols should be in JPG, PNG, or GIF format, at least 570 × 345 pixels and no larger than 10MB.
- Submit your symbol along with a brief description of your design.
- The symbol must be able to be printed both in black & white and color.
- The symbol must be universal, and therefore cannot include any text.
- If you have any questions, please review these FAQs or send us an email at maker@goodinc.com
Click here to enter the contest!