What’s up with Waste?
Waste plays a big part in our daily lives, and a huge role in city planning. Waste will pile up in landfills, pollute waterways, and contribute to climate change if not properly managed. In this blog post, we’re going to talk about how to cut back on the amount of waste that makes it into landfills each year. To do that, River is going to talk about the 3 R’s.
The 3 R’s
You may have heard of the 3 R’s in school, at work, or when chatting with friends and family at some point. They stand for reduce, reuse, and recycle. These 3 R’s together cut back greatly on pollution, landfill waste, and climate change as a whole. Let’s break them down.
Reduce
Our first R stands for reduce; and that means reduce the amount of waste coming into our lives in the first place. This can look like avoiding plastic at the grocery store by bringing your own reusable produce bags, avoiding disposable cutlery and straws by carrying around your own reusable ones, buying clothing secondhand to avoid the waste that comes from producing and buying new clothes, and more. Reducing waste means there is less waste to deal with, and that’s great for the environment.
River personally likes to buy their clothes from thrift stores because making just one shirt brand-new uses a ton of resources, generates waste, and is also more expensive. Here are some great examples of how to reduce your waste:
- Carry a reusable cutlery, handkerchief, and straw set for eating out
- Carry a reusable water bottle to avoid buying plastic
- Buy clothing and household items second hand when possible
- Donate acceptable clothes and household items to charities, local shelters, and thrift stores
- Swap clothes with friends and family to save money
Reuse
Reusable water bottles, straws, and cutlery are great examples of how to reuse items, but what about other things? Once we have an item, it’s best to use it for as long as possible if it can’t be donated or given to someone else. Items which would be considered waste, and can’t be donated can find new use in many different ways. River cuts up old damaged T-shirts to make reusable cleaning rags, and pokes holes into yogurt containers to make flower pots for their container garden. Here are some other great ideas for how you can reuse items:
- Turn your old clothes into a free and unique rug
- If you have spare bricks from a home renovation project, use them as flower bed borders in your garden
- Use plastic water bottles as slow-release plant waterers by poking small holes in them and filling with water
- Reuse school binders, and offer them to lower-grade school mates when you graduate
Recycle
The final R is the last option on our list, for when the earlier options are no longer available to us. Sorting your waste properly gives it the best chance at being recycled, and avoiding going to waste. It is good to know that not everything we recycle will successfully be recycled, and can still contribute to pollution and landfill waste. This is why it is important to reduce how much waste we generate, even if it is recyclable.
Conclusion, and Which R is Most Important
Using the 3 R’s is a great way to help preserve and protect the natural world, and our environment as a whole. You might be wondering which R is the most important. While many people think it is recycling, this is actually incorrect. While recycling is still important, the MOST important R is Reduce! Reducing waste lowers the amount we have to deal with from the start, eliminating tons of pollution and landfill mass each year. Think about ways you can reduce waste in your own life! We encourage you to make a list of waste that enters your home, and come up with solutions for how you can reduce their presence as much as possible. While waste reduction can be challenging, every step forward is a win and should be celebrated.
You could start your waste reduction journey tomorrow by carrying a reusable straw with you, or bringing a reusable produce bag to the market each shopping trip. Thanks for reading!
Written by Akira Ourique, Education Program Assistant and Nature Kids lead
