7 R's of Sustainability: Beyond Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Many of us are familiar with the classic three R’s of sustainability – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. But could you have guessed the other four R’s? Check ’em out:

REFUSE: Refuse to buy wasteful, non-recyclable, or overpackaged materials, or items you don’t really need. Making smarter purchasing decisions will reduce the stuff you have to manage.

ROT: By one estimate, food waste makes up 40% of the trash headed for landfills. (That shocked me!) Let kitchen scraps and yard trimmings rot through composting.

REPAIR: It’s simple – fix stuff before tossing it and buying new.

REPURPOSE: You might have heard of upcycling, but how about simple stuff – using boxes as drawer organizers, chipped coffee cups as pencil holders, old T-shirts for cleaning rags…you get the point. To all my clients who set aside oddments and half-used office and school supplies for the teacher whom I give those things to: you get extra points here!