We put a lot of resources and energy into producing materials, and there are very few things that are so worthless when you are done with them that you should just bury them in a landfill. It's much better to first reuse, then recycle all the materials you can.

Note: If you're already doing this action, take a look through each of the steps and make sure you haven't missed anything. If all's well, go ahead and check off all the boxes, then go start something new!