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The Recycling Symbol
The
Recycling Symbol / Some Variations This symbol and variations of recycling is used to designate recyclable materials. It is composed of three chasing arrows that form a continuous loop. This symbol is not a trademark. It is in the public domain and can therefore be used by anybody.
Sometimes though, local law may limit the use of this symbol in product labeling when it’s used to mislead consumers as to the nature of these products. The universal recycling symbol is known
internationally. The three chasing arrows of the
recycling symbol signify the three aspects or steps in
the recycling
process.
The concept and origin of the three arrows of recycling can be traced back to April 1970 when the first Earth Day was observed and a contest was held. The contest was sponsored by the Container Corporation of America. It was announced to environmentally aware art students and they were asked to create a design symbolizing the paper recycling process. The winning entry was to be used to identify products and packages made from recycled and recyclable fibers. This campaign was also designed to make the public aware that recycling paper was effective and additionally would conserve natural resources tremendously. CCA was promoting the idea to the public that paper was prime material for recycling and that recycling was an excellent way to promote environmental health.
Over 500 talented artists and art students submitted their entries to be decided on by a distinguished panel of judges at the International Design Conference at Aspen, Colorado. The theme of the conference was “Environment by Design”. Gary Dean Anderson, a graduate student at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles took first prize, second place went to Mike Norcia of New York, and Janet McElmurry of the University of Georgia took third. Twenty other Awards of Excellence were also presented. Anderson drew the symbol completely by hand using pen
and ink. At the time computer graphics was a largely experimental field
and no one had personal computers
then. During this time graphic design was largely limited to
arrangements of alpha-numeric characters. Anderson admitted that he had
been thinking about this design for some time and had experimented with
variations and other configurations. Anderson worked out his series of
designs over a period of two to three days. Thank you for visiting the Recycling Symbol page. For more information on the importance of recycling follow these links: Help the Environment by Recycling Return From Recycling Symbol to the Benefits of Recycling home page.
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