Our sister facebook group is Stowmarket 5R Group
5 R’s
Our sister facebook group is Stowmarket 5R Group. Share your best ideas and pick up some tips. May of these ideas create great money savings as well as being great for the environment.
The order of the 5R’s is very important.
REFUSE:
If you don’t accept unnecessary freebies, bags etc, then you don’t have to dispose of them. Saying “No thanks” is fine, you don’t need to explain and if enough people do it, businesses will get the message “We don’t want unnecessary stuff”.
REDUCE:
Buy less of it, or if possible don’t buy it at all. Can you rent, buy or share items? If you have to buy, think about where the item will go at the end of its life.
REUSE:
Can you replace the single use items in your life with items that you can use over and over again? Look at the stuff that you think you have finished with. What else could it be used for?
REPAIR:
Fight against the culture of “throw away and replace”. Can your item be repaired by you or someone else. When you buy a product eg white goods, look for a supplier who has thought about future maintenance and repair.
RECYCLE:
Surprisingly, this is the LAST stage in the chain. Only when an item has reached the end of it’s useful life, should you think about where to recycle it.
Recommended reading: Six weeks to Zero Waste by Kate Arnell. It is a practical guide to help you move towards Zero waste, with lots of ideas to help you do better. We don’t have to accept that waste is a part of life (nature doesn’t produce waste, everything is reused), its important that everyone does their bit.