Many of us probably have heard about the 3 Rs from a young age. In elementary school, you’re taught the framework ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’. These terms were first popularized in the late 1970s followed by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). The goal of this act was for the EPA to control hazardous waste from transportation to disposal. This short and simple motto was to restrain Americans from their propensity to constantly create waste and aid governments’ efforts to manage it.
Despite this framework, waste still continues to grow as a problem today. The 3 Rs framework doesn’t quite solve the problem at hand: humans will continue to produce trash. Nowadays, with zero-waste efforts as the new focus, the new 5 Rs framework is becoming more common (and for me, helpful). The 5 Rs stand for: refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot; and are in the order of what we should do with items we purchase and keep. This framework helps us deal with waste in a way that encourages us to acknowledge our waste habits that lead to more trash. Let’s go ahead and break them down!
Refuse
Refusing items we don’t need will help eliminate a lot of trash from the start. The most important thing we’ll learn to do as we approach a low-waste lifestyle is learning to say “no” to free stuff or deemed necessary items.
Some of the things you can learn to say no to can be:
1. Single-use plastics you get at shops and restaurants. Some examples being items like straws, utensils, or disposable coffee cups. We can learn to bring our own reusable items rather than taking on more single-use plastics we don’t need when we’re out eating or taking orders to-go.
2. Free swag, magazines, etc. Accept the things you believe will be beneficial to your life and refuse the rest. Before I started really getting to the bottom of where my trash came from, I would always take the free pens and highlighters and justify myself with a “this will be useful one day”..and never touch them again. Really think about what you already have and can use and what you won’t need more of.
3. Free flyers. I’ve learned to start taking photos of flyers that interest me rather than grabbing one myself. Flyers also aren’t bad. If you’re one of those people that need a flyer and that works better for you, of course do you, just remember to recycle! Later, I always add the events and information from the flyer photos into my calendar! After that event, you’re not really going to need the flyer again, right?
4. Plastic bags. So many things need to be bagged up for us and this leads to us hoarding a bunch of plastic bags or just throwing them out. Keeping some reusable grocery bags in the car or on your door hook can remind you to just bring along your bags when you head to the stores.
Reduce
This goes in hand with refusing; reducing what we purchase or what free items we take also means refusing what you know you won’t need.
But what if you actually need an item after much contemplation about it? It’s important that we understand what we need in an item before purchasing. Being more conscious about reducing your items looks like prioritizing quality and sustainability over other factors such as price.
Yes, price is a huge factor in determining if the item you buy is within your budget. However, we should remember that well-made products, though more expensive, will last longer and reduce the times we’ll need to repurchase something. This ends up saving us not only money, but time and effort down the road. Learning to take care of your possessions by following proper care and cleaning instructions will go a long way too!
Reuse
Reusing means several things.
1. Reusing an item apart from its initial purpose. For example, I love reusing spaghetti sauce jars as food containers after I finish the entire jar for cooking. That way I won’t have to waste more money buying extra containers/jars down the road, or throw away things that can still serve a purpose in my life!
2. Repairing an item rather than tossing it out and buying a new one. If you can find a way to repair and repurpose clothing, furniture, and technology first, definitely take that route before heading to buy something new.
3. Selling or donating used items so that they go to new loving homes rather than landfills. You can resell a variety of your items at your decided price through online sites like eBay, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace. Or resell your clothes online at your decided price through phone apps Poshmark, Shopify, Mercari. Maybe have yard sales at decided prices to clean out a bunch of your items. If you want to resell your clothes, these places are great: Plato’s Closet, Uptown Cheapskate, Thrift City, Family Thrift Center. Half Priced Books is awesome for reselling books, and Goodwill Computer Place for any tech items. Any general items you want to donate can go to Goodwill. Or simply, help out people you already know; give away or sell clothes to friends you know will treasure your items!
4. Buying secondhand. You can shop at any of the aforementioned places. This will in turn save you a ton of money and you know when you’re purchasing something secondhand, you’re not demanding more water usage, CO2 emissions, and labor.
Recycle
Recycling is excellent but should be after the options previously listed so that we really keep watch of and try to reduce our waste.
When you recycle, make sure that you’re cleaning and sorting your recycling properly according to local regulations or through the recycling service in your area. Luckily, UTD Facilities Management has helped simplify the recycling process for us tremendously by operating a single-stream recycling program. Furthermore, throughout the campus buildings, each trashcan is paired with a recycling bin. If you plan to move out of your living or office space, you can request a bin by contacting recycling@utdallas.edu for your own large recycling bin; they will deliver it to your location and pick it up for you when you are finished. We also offer special recycling streams for items such as batteries, cardboard, clothing and shoes, electronics, and more.
You can click here to learn more about the other recycling services we offer.
Rot
Composting looks extremely complicated and high maintenance; however, let me assure you that it’s easier than you’d think! There are a lot of different ways to compost nowadays such as vermiculture composting or composting pick-up services. Here at UTD, we offer composting bins for any student, faculty, or staff upon completion of Comet Composting Training (included in your student fees). You can email sustainability@utdallas.edu for information on upcoming training.
Here is also a great informational video on composting by our very own Eco Rep Paulina Hruskoci and Green Initiative Committee Chair Genna Campain:
At the end of the day, the 5 Rs won’t be a silver bullet to solving our waste problem, but they do give us a framework to think about the items we bring into our lives and how they will be disposed. Awareness is already a huge first step, so thank you for taking your time to read this!
Written by Yen Pham
The Greenhouse Blog 