The many ‘R’s of managing waste
Reduce, reuse and recycle are familiar to most of us, and the more we can do this and the less waste we send to the landfill the lower the cost in Waste Levy and Carbon Credits.
These days the three R’s is considered a bit simplistic – there are so many more ways that we can make changes in the way we manage waste. The three Rs have expanded into five R’s, adding in ‘Refuse’ and ‘Repurpose’.
Refuse sounds simple enough, minimise waste by refusing it in the first place, for example, single-use packaging or things that have more packaging than necessary. If possible, find an alternative.
But repurposing can be easier said than done, that one can take a bit more thought and time. Here are some suggestions of places to look to help get you started:
- Glass jars and bottles can be reused in multiple ways, as storage, for your home-made preserves, for decoration and more. Find some ideas here.
- Got old sheets or other bedding that’s not good enough to donate? Repurpose it! One great idea as we’re coming into winter is to use them as frost cloths! Here are some other ideas.
- Here are some very creative ideas to repurpose paper – some of these would be great school holiday activities!
- Get creative with plastic bottles. But, if that’s not your thing, in New Zealand the plastic waste you send to recycling might be contributing to making an Eco Pallet – that’s really clever!
