You must be already familiar with the beautiful green triangle with the labels Reduce – Reuse – Recycle. That effectively captures the full practical essence of being Green.
They could be considered as the basic tenets of a Green living. To be effective, these Rs should be employed in a step-by-step progress. i.e the next R should be executed only if the preceding R has been employed to its maximum potential.
Reduce:
This is the first R and is in line with the Green Religion tenet of being Honest & Modest.
- Double check whether you really need that product/thing.
- Do you really need that much of that product?
- Do you already have a substitutable product in your kitty?
The life time of any product will sooner or later get expired, based on the perceived or actual usable time period.
But a Green disciple will have to cross check whether this life time can be extended by some means or the other.
Be happy about employing this method and dont worry feeling a 'kanjoos'/micery!
You are giving added life to something (& actually to someone somewhere also!)
In fact, in the Indian scenario, we are actually very good with this concept of reuse. I don’t think we Indians are in much error at least in this particular aspect of being Green..:)
These are the options within Reuse:
- Can it be used in the same condition for some more time?
- Can it be maintained so as to extent its life time?
- Salvage: If you CANNOT continue to use it because of some emotional/ego drag, can you donate it to someone who will happily use it.
- Refurbish: Can the product be maintained so well so that it will be just as good as a new one?
Recycle:
This is the last option!!
If you really have to discard the product, then employ safe and scientific waste management practices so that the product could be recycled and used in some form or other. It is better to collect organic and inorganic wastes in separate collecting bins.
As you could have already understood, the basic rational behind this 'Rs of Green' is to extend the lifecycle usage of a product/material to the maximum possible extent.
Every man-made product you see around is manufactured by spending energy and causing some sort of harm to the nature & environment. By religiously following these R principals we can help reduce the impact on earth & environment due to extraction and manufacturing of virgin materials.
Happy ‘R’ing…:)
Go Back to: ‘Must Visit Pages’
