Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

My first exposure to conservation and reduction of single use consumables came through recycling. I remember being thrilled that our neighborhood was being included in a recycling program. I'm still a big recycler, but have come to the conclusion that reducing is most important, followed by reusing, and then recycling, as shown in the handy graphic above, which I got from this wiki that explains the framework in more detail. Here's my take on the basic three: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. 

RECYCLE- limitations

• Can be complicated keeping track of which items can be recycled. For example, did you know that tissue paper and aluminum foil are not recycled?
• May be inconvenient if you have to take it somewhere yourself (as I do) or if you have to sort it first.

Recycle - benefits

• Gets rid of it, just like throwing it away but without the guilt
• Saves energy and conserves resources, for example recycling an aluminum can saves a whopping 95% of the energy resources required to make that same can from virgin resources.

REUSE - benefits 

• It's like getting free stuff! If I buy a glass jar of pasta sauce and then use that glass jar many times in my lunch box, it's like getting a free lunch container with my pasta sauce. 
• Creative - loads of crafty fun in figuring out how to upcycle - check out this pinterest board full of ideas from making plastic yarn (plarn), to making a sandwich box from a gallon milk jug, to creating lanterns from tin cans. 

Reuse - limitations  

• Takes some effort and creativity. Ain't nobody got time for that! (Actually, I do, that's fun for me).
• I can only use so many strawberry clam shells for organizing my craft supplies. 
• When it comes to plastic there's more of it than can be reused, or that's difficult to get another use out of (for example the plastic that's in any kind of electronic you purchase, you just have to hack it out of there and are left with a pile of bits).

REDUCE - benefits

• This is the sweet spot because if you don't have it in the first place, then you don't have to throw it away, recycle it or figure out a way to reuse it. Bingo! 
• Freeing! You spend less, stress less, clean less when you have less - Becoming Minimalist has recently become one of my favorite sites for refreshing ideas on how to do this. A good place to start is with this post on the benefits of having less. 

Reduce - limitations

• You can't always avoid it. Things are overpackaged - especially toys and electronics!!!! But, even unavoidable purchases such as food and toiletries come with too much packaging. Ones that plague me are berries, honey and milk. 
• Things are made to break - there's even a term for it, planned obsolescence. The documentary Zeitgeist explains this vicious cycle. It's often more expensive to repair than purchase a new one, especially in the area of electronics. 

I refuse to be discouraged though - I'm focusing on the benefits and trying to make it as easy as possible to reduce first, then reuse and finally recycle!