The three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle have become a sort of social mantra that communities and households operate under to create environmental awareness and promote sustainability. What many people do not know is that these terms are part of a hierarchy. This means that one should first reduce or use less; whether you purchase fewer products, take shorter showers, turn off unused lights, or unplug unused chargers.
Next, reusing is a straightforward reference to using an item more than once for their original purpose. This is conventional reuse. But, with some creativity people can reuse everyday items for many different purposes. For instance, old CDs, toothpaste tubes, yard debris, and tires have several uses around the house: http://www.squidoo.com/reuse-everything
Finally, recycling refers to the processing of old products into new ones in order to reduce wasting valuable materials. One of the major concerns with recycling now-a-days speaks to the carbon footprint that results from transporting recyclables around the country and around the globe. Cars, garbage haulers, lorries, pettibones, and ships all use energy to transport recyclables and it is important that this “environmental cost” does not outweigh the costs and energy saved throughout the recycling process.
One major change that can take place to reduce carbon emissions is simply taking less trips. Naturally, taking less trips and maximizing the efficiency of waste transportation requires packing waste containers as full as possible. Whether traveling overseas or across town, recycling is simply “greener” when more waste is transported less often. On the commercial and industrial levels, SP Industries prides itself on manufacturing the highest quality compaction systems that maximize the load size of containers in waste transportation.
Ultimately, following through with the three R’s takes personal sacrifice and being conscious of the carbon footprint your lifestyle produces. Another challenge should be for people to re-think or “pre-cycle” by reconsidering what they are purchasing, how it can be disposed of, and whether other products or services are better alternatives.
Do you have any creative ways that you have reused household products? What environmental considerations do you think are most important when you make purchases?
