I’m not talking bottles and cans here. I’m talking bodies. It’s a concept I came across junior year in college (yes I’m a late bloomer) and have come to appreciate as the years go on. Why put forth all the effort to get into a new person’s pants and up your count when you can cut to the chase and use a past fling?

I know, I know. I was skeptical at first, too; especially since my lover at school was an ex with whom I shared a tumultuous breakup, but as time progressed I got lazy and quite frankly I was pretty randy. Then one day, my friend brought up the topic.

Recycling, or using a past lover simply for sex, seemed ingenious if done right. The thought stayed in the back of my mind until I found myself a successful senior with no plans of being in a relationship, but I still wanted my cake and to eat it too.

I invited my friends over for a dinner party and my ex was home alone (since we shared friends and no one bothered to invite him). I felt sorry for him and invited him over as long as he brought some drinks of merriment.

Later that night, we had the collective balls to text each other and one text led to another and I found myself primping for a night of sex, no strings attached. Now that that fling is over, I can say that it was quite the success. We didn’t speak in public, we didn’t cuddle, we barely even made out and it led to no drama.

The horizontal tango was all we had going between us and it was great. He was someone I was familiar and comfortable with and I didn’t feel too slutty because we once shared a relationship; although, it was clearly dead and gone by this point.

An overall success for me, recycling can prove to be the same for you. However, watch your step because one wrong move can send you down a dark path. Make certain you two are on the same page or else an all-too-familiar book you weren’t interested in writing might surface.