The Three R’s

April 1, 2020

Today I want to talk with you about something super simple and important that you can do at home: The Three R’s. Together, they stand for Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. We’ll break down each of them and learn more about their importance both individually and together.

Reduce: By definition, to Reduce is “to become smaller in size, amount, extent, number, etc.” or to “lower in degree or intensity.”¹ So, naturally, when we talk about reducing in the environmental context, we talk about decreasing our usage or consumption of certain daily products.

This is where I notice people have the most trouble, especially in a society fueled by consumption. The unfortunate reality is that single-use plastics overrun our grocery and cleaning needs. Within these single-use packages, is also often much more product that we’re realistically going to use in a given product’s shelf-life. For example, I can’t tell you how many bags and boxes of pasta end up just sitting on my shelf until they go bad, because I meal prep for only myself and don’t need to make that much at a time. How I’m working to fix this behavior, is only owning one or two packages of pasta at a time. Who says I HAVE to have spaghetti and not fettuccine? It’s all getting covered in Alfredo sauce and broken down by stomach acid and enzymes in the end.

The same can be said for countless products without resealable containers. You can consume the product to its’ fullest, but in the end you’re still left with an empty single-use package and potentially food waste to go with it. This single-use packaging is typically either plastic or cardboard. Some of it can be put in a recycle bin. A lot of it cannot. Not to mention those plastic bags we’re automatically given to carry our groceries in.

It doesn’t stop at food, either. These single-use packages can be found in all sorts of everyday items, from toilet paper to cleaning wipes to hygiene supplies. Reducing can also come in the form of turning your air conditioner up or down a couple of degrees depending on the time of year, or when you leave your house. Taking shorter, cooler showers can have the same effect (although sometimes you can’t beat a long, hot bath). You can also turn off any lights that you’re not using. These small changes will do wonders for your electricity bill, too!

The challenge here is to try our best to only buy what you need/know what you will consume. For many things, we don’t have a choice but to use the packages we’re given. We all need toothpaste and toilet paper, right? The trick is to figure out what you can use less of, in order to utilize more.

Personal Examples:

Take reusable bags to the store with me; and only buying the amount of fresh products I know I’m going to use in the near future.
Meal planning for the upcoming week or two ONLY. This has proven a hard habit to stay on, since I’m always craving different things. However, it’s really helped me reduce the waste I’m producing at home.
Unplugging small appliances I’m not using – especially my computer charger and kitchen appliances like the toaster and blender.
Turning off lights when I leave a room.
Using washable cloths and paper towels.

Reuse: According to the Dictionary, to Reuse is to “use again,” often in a different way². When we talk about reusing something, we don’t mean to try to stretch the life of a sing-use item, like the plastic bag baby carrots come in. Rather, try to be smart (and hygienic) about what you’re reusing or re-purposing. Little things like that water bottle you bought at the start of your day – refill it throughout the day! Or fill it with water and stick it in the freezer to double as an ice pack and drinking water for a beach day!

Reusable items can come in all sorts of products. From storage containers, to reusable water bottles, to 3-ring binders. Little things, that you probably already have in your house, can make all the difference in the challenge against single-use products.

A really great way to practice reusing is to start there – buy used! Thrift stores are wonderful things, and I’ve found a lot of really great clothes and appliances all while saving money. Now, I’m not saying that your lifestyle should completely change to “thrifty” (goodness knows, I haven’t been able to do it); but every now and then, it can be fun!

You can also get very creative when it comes to reusing. Sustainable crafting is something I’ve been trying to get into more frequently. It’s a really fun way to “upcycle” products you already have but find yourself rarely using and making them into something new and functional. You can read more about it [here].

I consider reusing to come the easiest to people. Many don’t even realize they’re already doing it! Those three ring binders for school can be reused every semester with the help of fresh loose-leaf paper. The containers in your cabinet have kept your food fresh time-and-time again. The challenge here is to figure out just how much you can reuse, and doing so everywhere possible.

Personal Examples:

Save any plastic grocery bags I do get and using them as trashcan liners for places like the bathroom and bedroom.
Only buying candles that come in jars with good seals on the lid. Once the candle burns down, I can use the remaining wax to make a new candle and clean out the empty jar to use for storage!
Speaking of Jars – I have a lot of them and reuse as many glass jars and bottles for storage and art projects as possible.
When I was in school, I would buy sturdy 3-ring binders and loose-leaf paper. This way I could recycle notes I didn’t need and reuse the binder.

Recycle: Recycling, per definition, means “to pass again through a series of changes or treatments in order to regain material for human use.” The key word in this definition is “again.” The act of recycling literally takes a material, such as plastic or cardboard, and putting it through a process that creates it into a new product for use.

Why should we do it? Well, simply put, the more products we recycle, the less energy we use to create single-use products that will sit in landfills. Unfortunately, most single-use items are not biodegradable (or are after thousands of years). To biodegrade, means to be naturally broken down into nutrients in/for the earth. Non-biodegradable single-use items mean mountains of trash just sitting on top of the planet or in the ocean for thousands of years. Think about Disney Pixar’s movie Wall-E. If nobody ever recycled, our world would eventually end up just like that. Now, take some of those single-use items, process them, and create something new. Suddenly there’s that much less trash just sitting, and a new product has been created. A lot of recycled materials can also be used to make multi-use alternatives! You can find some examples [here].

Most commonly, you’ll find plastic soda bottles, cans, and cardboard boxes being recycled. These items, among a few other things, are the driving force behind recycling efforts across the world. In many places, your local government will actually provide you with a recycling bin to be picked up weekly and brought to a recycling facility. In others, you have to bring your recycled goods to a designated facility, yourself. Either way, it’s important to know what can and can’t be recycled, and why.

Recycling products that are not meant to be recycled can potentially have just as negative affects than not doing so at all. If non-recyclables, such as plastic bags, are brought to the recycling center, they run the risk of problems like machine malfunction and batch contamination. Once your recycled goods have been picked up and brought to the local facility, the materials get sorted. Any non-recycled products found then get brought to the landfill. However, if a batch does become contaminated, none of the materials in it can be made into new products⁴.

The good news is, most of your daily household items are, in fact, recyclable. Perhaps not with your local facility, but many of your local stores may have special bins for uncommonly recycled objects such as batteries, plastic shopping bags, and fabrics.

The challenge here is to try to recycle as much material as possible, so that they can be made into more products, rather than relying on raw materials. Lucky for all of us, recycling tends to go hand-in-hand with reducing and reusing – so you’re probably already doing it too! Overall, it’s better for the environment, and is more cost-efficient. If you have questions about what can or cannot be recycled in your area, please contact your local government.

Personal Examples:

Recycling junk mail and as much paper and cardboard packaging as possible.
If I can’t reuse something, I do my best to recycle it if and where possible.
Recirculating the air in my car.
Supporting organizations that make their products out of recycled materials.

So now we’ve broken down the Three R’s. Individually they can do a lot for our planet. Together, they are an unstoppable force that paves the way for a greener Earth. When used hand in hand, the benefits can be seen both in and out of your household. At home, you should start seeing your energy bills go down. You’ll save money on the products you do buy by choosing reusable and bulk options; plus you shouldn’t be purchasing as much if the items you have are reusable⁵. In the economy, jobs are created by having more recycling facilities and fewer landfills. It also promotes tapping into domestic materials, rather than an international trade for things like paper and plastic⁶. The Three R’s promote less air pollution and a cleaner Earth. Thus, leaving a better, healthier Earth for generations to come.

If you find yourself unsure where to start at home, trust that you’ve probably already begun. Get creative, make it a group effort. One of my mottos is that “small ripples make big waves.” Any small thing you do at home, create a bigger difference than we might realize in the end.

Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped in the water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects.

~ Dalai Lama

References

Figures:

Something Wild Calls

The Three R’s

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Something Wild Calls

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