It Starts with the First 'R'

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - It Starts with the First 'R'

When I was a kid I was introduced to the 3Rs in school. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. It was a mantra that was etched into my brain. I was told that the first step to managing our waste was to first reduce the amount that we threw out, then to reuse whatever we could, and the last was to recycle everything we could.

I've noticed articles online that are starting to re-order the 3Rs. Some put Recycle first, other Reuse. I wanted to share what the 3Rs mean to me and why they should stay in the order that my grade school teacher taught me.

Reduce

What it means: To reduce our impact on the environment, we need to first reduce the amount of natural resources we consume. Short product life cycles increase our waste, while long life cycles prolong when we have to send products to land fills.

Why it's first: At our current pace of consumption of natural resources, we are on the fast track to using up all of our natural resources. The price of commodities have risen, and will continue to rise as we use more oil, minerals and metals in our quest to produce everything for everyone.

The Focus: Stop consuming wasteful products. You don't have to go into a store and buy something, anything because you are there. Don't buy that pretty little bracelet that is the same as the 15 previous pretty bracelets in your drawer. How many do you really need.

Reuse

What it means: If we have to use a product it is our choice when the product life cycle runs out, that is, when we throw it away. Extending a products lifecycle is our choice by sharing it with others, saving it for later or using it for something it wasn't intended for.

Why it's second: We have to consume resources to survive. We have to eat, heat our homes, make a living and build and run our society. Whatever we do have to use, we should reuse until it is not practical anymore. To help manage consumption, we need to get every pound of value out of products and not throw them away early because they aren't new.

The Focus: Think about your purchases and what values drive your purchases. Buying things that will last you a long time and are versatile enough to be used for different things is much better than buying something that will only be used once and then thrown out. Stop buying things that are disposable, and start to choose things that are reusable.

Recycle

What it means: This is the extension of reusing, simply reusing the raw materials. Choosing recyclable products can help to provide us with renewable resources that can slow down the consumption of our planet's natural resources.

Why it's last: By this point we should have only consumed products that were essential to our living and have lasted a long lifecycle. They've been reused until it was unusable. Now it is either going to be recycled to renew the natural resources in it, or throw away into a landfill.

The Focus: When choosing what to buy, find products that can be recycled easily. The first thing we tackled in the global sustainability push was to start recycling programs for the various products that are consumed and sent to landfills. There are now recycling programs for most products, and choosing the products that use recyclable materials is the responsibility of the individual as much as the company producing the product.

Cheers
HH
www.gopaperless.ca