You’ve probably have heard the rule of the 3 R’s, Reuse, Reduce, Recycle, but maybe you’re wondering what are the steps you can make to actually apply them in your day to day life. When you actually follow these rules, you become more environmentally conscious and help the planet have a more sustainable future.
Let’s start by breaking down the three R’s:
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Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
This step is the most important and that’s probably why it’s the first R. Reducing our waste and amount of plastic pollution should be one of your main goals towards a more sustainable lifestyle. Why is reducing so important? It’s simple, the less waste you produce the less waste gets sent to landfill. It stops the problem at the source! Maybe what you throw away doesn't seem like a lot, but there's billions of people in this planet all with big bags of trash! The planet needs all the help we can give. An yes, we all produce waste, but how much waste we produce is up to us! You don’t have to put all your trash in a bin, or try extreme methods, but being more aware of what exactly your throwing away could be of big help. Donating could be a great alternative, what's trash to you could be a treasure to others.
We all have a lot of stuff we can reuse in our home, and let’s face it, as human we have a deep connection to shopping. We buy stuff often because it can be a fun way to release stress or just a way to pass the time. However, when you’re on the hunt for new things, stop and think: “Do I have something similar already?” “Is there anything that I already have that can be used instead of this?” Reusing produces basically no waste, so this is one of the things you should consider when trying to become more environmentally friendly. According to Global Citizen, over the past 50 years, world plastic production has doubled. The demand for disposables and plastic keeps rising and by making a switch to reuse an old cup instead of grabbing a disposable one, you will help the planet and have less waste on our landfills. This step seems easy right? Which leaves us to our third & last R.
You’ve probably heard that recycling shouldn’t be the solution. There’s some truth to that, reusing and reducing is more efficient than recycling but, this step is just as important because there’s no 100% way to be zero waste, even though you might come close. A good recommendation for a trash-less home is to take a look at your trash, what is the main thing you keep throwing away? If it’s plastic water bottles, then you can find a reusable bottle and a water filter instead!
Don't be afraid of change, it's good for us and our home planet!