Towards sustainability: waste

For the sixth part of the series – see the previous articles on heating, electricity, water, transport and food – I would like to tackle waste in general. This is an important issue as still too much of the things we throw end up in the wild.

The concept known as three Rs is interesting in that regard. Indeed, reducing, recycling and reusing our stuff would provide many advantages societies to Nature, our societies and our economies.

As the economic crises multiply and people find themselves unemployed, a better waste management would prove to benefit us all.

Reducing

It can be done quite easily. As an example, if you still drink bottled water, do like me, buy a water filter or go straight to tap. There are many other possibilities.

This can be applied to life in general. Do you really need the new stuff you are about to buy ?

Recycling

Sorting out and recycling our stuff is important. I have been sorting out my trash for nearly 15 years now (we were sorts of  pioneers in France) and am still amazed at the stuff that will be recycled in what we throw away.

Recycling is very important. Did you know that with a tonne of paper recycled you can get 900 kilograms of brand new pages? Glass can be cleaned up and reused many many times… The list goes on and on.

Reusing

We tend to part from any single thing we aren’t using any more. Couldn’t it be fixed if it is broken ? Couldn’t someone find a use ?

You get the idea: the three Rs go well beyond just wate

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For more on this topic, please check out the page on the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) on this issue.