I am an avid recycler and have been for years. Recently I had a conversation with a friend who argued that recycle should be my third priority. He felt reduce should be my first priority, reusing should be the second priority and recycling my last. I disagreed as I think all three are equally important. I decided to do some research to confirm.
According to SOS Future here are a few sobering facts about the US:
Over 24 trillion Styrofoam coffee cups are throw away each year.
The amount of wood & paper we throw away is enough to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20 years.
On average each one of us produces 4.4 pounds of solid waste each day.
If all our newspaper was recycled we could save 250,000,000 trees each year. (There are still newspapers?)
Plastic bags and garbage thrown into the ocean have devastating effects on sea animals.
24 trees are cut down to make 1 ton of paper.
In the US we use 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour.
There is no limit to the amount of times a can made from aluminum can be recycled.
The US generates 21.5 million tons of food waste each year.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency “reducing, reusing, and recycling helps the environment by saving money, energy, and natural resources. The most effective way to reduce waste is to not create it in the first place. Making a new product emits 42 percent of the US greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change and requires a lot of materials and energy – raw materials must be extracted from the earth, and the product must be fabricated then transported to wherever it will be sold. As a result, reduction and reuse are the most effective ways you can save natural resources, protect the environment and save money.” Conserve Energy Future says it is a waste hierarchy with reduce being the most important followed by reuse and recycle. But they also say all three steps are important.
The first step to reduce is thinking green when you shop. Ask yourself if you need the item, if you will use it, already own (How many times have I gave up looking for something I need in my garage and bought the item again) or can you borrow or rent the item. Maintain and repair products like clothing and appliances rather than throwing away and buying new. Reduce food waste by only buying what you need. Buy products that are made with recycled content. Support companies that are reducing waste. For example Amazon has changed their packaging from always being boxes to recyclable paper envelopes for small items. Use items like refillable coffee cups and drink containers. My personal example is reusing tea bottles as water bottles by filling with filtered water instead of buying bottled water.
Reuse can cover a wide variety of activities. Old pots, jars or empty plastic containers can be used to store loose items like screws, nails or computer wires. Donate or sell usable items instead of throwing them away. Newspaper can be used as packing material. Old clothes can be made into tote bags or rugs or other useful household items.
The last R in the waste hierarchy is recycle. Recycling means the item will be transformed into something else. But you must recycle right by only putting the right items in the recycle bin. If non-recyclable items are mixed with the recyclable items the whole load goes to the landfill. (See article Do You Recycle Right?) I consider taking useable items to a local charity another way to recycle. Anything that keeps stuff from going to the landfill is a plus to me.
Recently a fourth R was added – Recover. According to Conserve Energy Future it may be possible to recover materials that cannot be reduced, reused or recycled and turn it into energy like electricity, heat, fuel and compost through thermal and biological means. Ironically in 2018, almost 69 percent of voters declined to support Proposition 127, a state ballot measure that would have required 50 percent of the city’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2050.
How does recover work? Sending treated wastes to a landfill where they will biodegrade away to rejuvenate the land again. Solid wastes are burned at high temperatures in the incineration method and converted into residue and gaseous products. (Note some states do not like to burn waste because of the containments released.) Non-recyclable waste is converted into usable heat, electricity, or fuel through varying processes and then becomes a renewable source of energy. Using waste to produced energy helps lessen the need for fossil fuels and reduces some of the carbon emissions. Composting, which is a natural biodegradable process, turns organic wastes into nutrient-rich food for plants. It is a slow process, but one of the best ways to turn unsafe organic products into safe compost.
The answer to my original question is yes. There is a hierarchy to the three (now four) R’s. Reducing the amount of crap we produce is the first step. But reusing and recycling are important as well.
Now my next question is how much gas are we wasting sitting in our cars with the engine idling while we text? Hmmm.