Adopt the 8Rs

From a recycling and sustainability perspective, here are a few things you might like to think about before throwing anything away. In fact it all started with a few basic rules or basic concept as to how we should address this issue.

Firstly there was the 3Rs

Before throwing anything away - whether the product or its packaging -  check out whether you can:

• Reuse it in its present form? (e.g. refilling a water bottle with water)
• Reform it and use it for some other purpose? (e.g. use a yoghurt pot to grow seedlings in)
• Recycle it so that the raw materials can be used in the manufacturing process again

before additional ones aimed at the manufacturer's production process were added...

...which then became the 5Rs

• Refuse - in other words avoid purchasing environmentally burdensome materials
• Reduce the amount of waste material generated

...but which we suggest should become the 8Rs

• Repair - if an item is broken, see if it can be repaired first before replacing with new
• Reassign - if you can't use or re-use an item, can someone else use it instead?
• Recover - if a producer uses excessive packaging shouldn't they be responsible for recycling it!

And please do let the Energy Saving Centre know if you can think of any more  R's to add to this model.

(this is our original Tip1 and we think still probably our most important)

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