Zero waste is a philosophy and lifestyle aiming to minimize the amount of waste produced and sent to landfills or incinerators. It encourages the redesign of resource life cycles so that all products are reused or recycled effectively.
Here at Zero Waste California, we try to follow the rule of 6 Rs:
Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Refill, Rot
Refuse: Just say no. If you don’t need it, don’t purchase it. Avoid impulse buys at all costs.
Reduce: Whenever possible, use less. Conserve water and electricity at home. Turn the lights off when not in use and use eco-settings on Energy Star approved appliances.
Reuse: Before buying new items, always try to reuse what you have, fix what is broken, or buy second hand. New items inherently come with waste via manufacturing and shipping.
Repair: We mentioned in “reuse,” but it deserves its own category. As a society, we’ve become accustomed to tossing things with minor imperfections, wear and tear, or things that can easily be fixed by watching a YouTube video or having a handy friend stop by in return for some fresh baked cookies. Learn how to repair things yourself and you can be that handy friend getting cookies.
Refill: Find a co-op or refill service to refill your current containers. This means buying bulk pantry items, and re-using bottles to refill items ranging from olive oil to soap.
Rot: By this, we mean compost. If you don’t have a service that picks up your compost, learn to compost your own food scraps. You can do this with minimal space!
Why did we remove “Recycle” from our list of Rs?
In July 2019, our 6 R list was amended to add “Repair” and omit “Recycle.” The addition was a recommended by Chrise D. who makes a great point: let’s try to fix what we have before we buy something new.” Although the concept of “repair” could falls under the umbrella of “Reuse”, we feel the specification is warranted.
Over the last few decades society has moved away from repairing broken items largely because buying new has been made effortless, easily accessible, and often at a low price that do not truly reflect the inherent costs of production. When we buy new instead of repairing what we have, we are likely to throw out the the original item, thus creating waste. We should try not to. throw out items simply because we do not want to invest a little time in learning how to repair it. YouTube and Reddit can teach you just about anything. I am learning Scottish Gaelic and pottery from YouTube right now.
Let’s try to fix what we have.
From the old list:
Recycle: The very last option is recycle. Recycling is not considered environmentally friendly as it requires clean water and energy to process these materials. It’s still a better solution than throwing items in a landfill, but should only be used as a very last resort to landfill refuse.
Zero Waste California 