Understanding the 5 foundational "REs": REfuse, REduce, REuse, REpurpose, and REcycle

By Katelyn Marie Poyntz

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​While the WRG advocates for an 11RE model of sustainability, it is helpful to first understand the five foundational REs. In order of importance, these are REfuse, REduce, REuse, REpurpose, and REcycle.
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Believe it or not, recycling is at the bottom of the list!

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REfuse

One of the best (and easiest) ways to reduce your environmental impact is to simply refuse! Refuse the free handouts, the free gifts you probably won’t use, the carrots wrapped in plastic, etc. 

If you don’t bring it into your home, you don’t have to figure out what to do with it. 

Here are some other ideas related to refusing: 

• Say no to paper towels. Instead, save old clothes/towels and use them as rags. Wash to reuse.
• Avoid buying new garbage bags. Instead, reuse cereal bag liners, plastic shopping bags, or frozen veggie pouches. They are destined for the garbage anyway, so why not repurpose them before they end up in the landfill?
• Put down the Saran Wrap. You have many options here. My favourite: use the dishes you already have as covers (e.g., using an upside-down bowl or plate as a bowl cover).

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REduce

Although refusing is the best course of action, it’s not always possible. So let’s talk about how to reduce consumption.

Here are some tips: 
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• Buy nonperishable items in larger sizes to reduce packaging (e.g., buying 24 rolls of toilet paper vs. eight or a big jug of laundry detergent instead of a small one). You’ll most likely get better unit pricing too.
• Buy fewer items of better quality (e.g., buy one sustainably produced sweater vs. five cheaper ones that will wear out quickly). Consider sustainable and ethically sourced materials, and support local businesses.
• Make a reusable swap (e.g., use a refillable water bottle, get your morning coffee in a reusable mug/thermos, bring your own container when getting takeout food, or bring your own reusable produce bags to the grocery store).
• Buy naked vegetables (e.g., buy field cucumbers instead of plastic-wrapped ones, and choose bulk mushrooms, carrots, and onions instead of packaged ones).

REuse and REpurpose

This is your chance to get creative and embrace your inner artist! Think twice, thrice, or “quadrice” before you throw something away.

Here are some tips: 

• Save old clothes to patch and repair other clothes—double whammy!
• Save old toothbrushes, as they’re great for cleaning grout or getting into tight places (inside water bottles, for instance).
• Old sheets make great drop cloths for painting.
• Old clothes make great cleaning rags.
• Save glass jars from pasta sauce or other products and reuse them for dry food storage in your pantry.
• Plastic jars can also be saved and reused for storing items.
• If you are still using tin foil or Saran Wrap (see the above tips on refusing for ideas on how to replace these items), you can wash and reuse them before throwing them away.
• Save the fronts of cards and reuse them to make new cards.​

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REcycle

Recycling is better than sending things to landfills. But let it be known that recycling is far from the perfect process! 

Successful recycling requires sorting/grouping like materials together, breaking them down into reusable raw materials, and a vendor/market to buy the raw material. This takes a lot of energy, time, and resources—potentially more than not recycling at all! 

Are you a wishcycler? Wishcycling is the process of assuming that the things we put into the bin will magically get recycled even if they’re not fit for recycling. Unfortunately, this contaminates the recycling materials and results in items going to landfills. 

To ensure that items are actually recycled:
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• Ensure that containers are completely emptied and washed, and then place them in the recycling bin with the lid on.
• Do not bag your recycling items; this ensures that the items can be properly sorted.
• Group like products together (e.g., gather loose plastic bags within a single plastic bag and put small pieces of paper/cardboard in an envelope or other paper container).

*This post is based on content that was originally posted on Wylderr.