Recaptured – A recycling method that can greatly reduce your water bill and your community's need for expensive giant waste treatment plants. There are basically two types of grey water recapture. “In the Home” grey water is water from your sink, shower, and laundry that has been filtered and reused. “Outside the Home” is run-off water from your gutters/ground that has been saved and used.

Recyclable - A designation for products or materials that are capable of being recovered from, or otherwise diverted from waste streams for recycling.

Rechargeable Battery - Also known as a storage battery, it is a group of one or more secondary cells . Rechargeable batteries use electrochemical reactions that are electrically reversible. Rechargeable batteries come in many different sizes and use different combinations of chemicals. Commonly used secondary cell ("rechargeable battery") chemistries are lead acid, nickel cadmium (NiCd), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium ion (Li-ion), and lithium ion polymer (Li-ion polymer).

Rechargeable batteries can offer economic and environmental benefits compared to disposable batteries. Some rechargeable battery types are available in the same sizes as disposable types. While the rechargeable cells have a higher initial cost, rechargeable batteries can be recharged many times. Proper selection of a rechargeable battery system can reduce toxic materials sent to landfills compared to an equivalent series of disposable batteries. For example, battery manufacturers of NiMH rechargeable batteries claim a service life of 100-1000 charge cycles for their batteries.

Reclaimed - Products that are comprised of materials that have been extracted from the garbage or waste.

Recycled Content - Refers to the percentage of the total weight of recycled materials in a product.

Recycle symbol – The chasing arrow symbol used to show that a product or package can be recycled. The three arrows on the symbol represent different components of the recycling process. The top arrow represents the collection of recyclable materials. The second arrow (bottom right) represents the recyclables being processed into recycled products and the third arrow on the bottom left represents when the consumer actually buys a product with recycled content.

Recycling – The process of collecting, sorting, and reprocessing old material into usable raw materials.

Reduce – Not using or buying products in the forst place so less waste, less recycling and less reusing.

Renewable - A natural resource if it is replaced by natural processes at a rate comparable or faster than its rate of consumption by humans. Solar radiation, tides, winds and hydroelectricity are perpetual resources that are in no danger of a lack of long-term availability.

Renewable Energy Credits/Certificates - (RECs), are tradable commodities representing renewable energy. RECs are purchased in addition to grid electricity to offset non-renewable energy used with renewable sources. RECs fund renewable energy sources and contribute renewable energy to the national grid, thereby reducing fossil fuel based energy production. Rocs purchased to achieve LEED points must be certified Green-e (a third-party certifier) or meet equivalent standards. Green power is another term often used for Rocs.

Renewable energy – Alternative energy sources such as wind power or solar energy that can keep producing energy indefinitely without being used up.

Renewable resources – Like renewable energy, resources such as wind, sunlight and trees that regenerate.

Repurposing - Allows a flooring product to be cleaned or refurbished and then reused in its current form, thereby extending its useful life. Interface currently repurposes carpet by offering it to nonprofit organizations.

Reuse – before throwing away or recycling, a product that can be reused until its time to recycle.