8 R’s – New Way to Spell Energy Conservation

The 8 Big  “R’s” – R’s is another way to spell energy conservation

written by Not Sure, but Not Me

The fact is, we have been sold a bill of goods by our current industrial system that basically runs on waste, on selling stuff to us but not being responsible for the garbage that comes with it. They basically have transferred the responsibility to you, the taxpayer, who has to pay for dumps and separate it for recycling. It is a big issue, bigger than just the waste, it is the energy made producing things that don’t last, replacing bottles that get recycled instead of refilled, picking up shopping bags that get tossed instead of reused.

It’s Recycling Week, and time to reiterate, reprise and repost our message that recycling is not the answer, zero waste is. Last year we listed 7 Rs that did not include recycling.

Refuse:  Simply don’t buy stuff that is overpackaged or packaged individually.

Rot:  Save what is left over and let it rot, that’s called Composting.

Refill:  In Ontario Canada, 88% of beer bottles are returned to the beer store, washed and refilled; just south of the border in the USA, the number drops to under 5%.

Return:  Producers should take back what they sell. More and more of them, like Apple and Dell, are doing so now.

Repair:  Fix, patch and mend things rather than replacing them.

Repurpose:  If you are handy, a lot of things can be put to different uses than they were originally intended.

Reduce:  Just use less. Everything from shower water to lawnmower gas.

Reuse:  Almost boring, but we throw too much stuff out too soon.

If you do all that, then there is really nothing left to recycle, and that is how it should be. I will recycle a few words from last year: