There are three R’s often mentioned in relation to sustainability: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.
I would argue that the best of the three is Reuse.
Better than recycling a plastic grocery bag is using the same one over and over until it completely wears out.
We lived in the south of England from 1995-1998. I purchased the grocery bag shown during that time from a Co-op supermarket – and used it until a few months ago.
Sadly, it did finally wear out. The top completely tore off the bag.
So I decided to Recycle it.
If you use something way past its normal life, you are:
- buying fewer things;
- causing fewer things to be made from natural (or unnatural) resources;
- using less energy and producing less pollution by transporting fewer things to retail outlets;
- saving money you can give to your charity of choice; and
- causing less waste to enter landfills or be processed at recycling facilities.
What can you reuse today?
