May 06 2009
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - Efforts in Sustainability
When talking about sustainable printing, or any environmental subject for that matter, one often hears about “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”. I learned about the 3 Rs in grade school when we took a field trip to a local recycling facility. Nowadays, the 3 Rs almost seem like a cliché, but these are 3 very potent words when it comes to sustainability.
Reduce – to diminish in size, amount, extent or number
Reuse - to use again especially in a different way or after reclaiming or reprocessing
Recycle - to process in order to regain material for human use
Whomever came up with this campaign put the words in a very appropriate order, whether intentional or not. Try saying it with the words mixed up. “Reuse, Recycle, Reduce”. “Recycle, Reuse, Reduce”. It just doesn’t work as well. Now let’s take a look at the order of the words.
First, reduce. In any effort of sustainability, reduction is the first step. Reducing our dependence on foreign oil, reducing our frivolous spending, reducing unnecessary printing around the office. Once we as individuals or companies reduce our needs (and in turn, our impact), then we can move on to the next step.
Reuse. There’s no reason not to reuse appropriate materials before disposal. By reusing items in any fashion, you can reduce costs and your global impact by not having to buy new and in turn, use more raw materials. One example that my company does is reusing the paper cartons as boxes for our customers’ finished projects. This allows us not to order as many empty boxes as well as gives the paper boxes another spin around the block.
Recycle. Once an item can no longer be used in any form, we should always strive to recycle. Unfortunately, this step can be difficult depending on the material or item you’re trying to recycle. However, the effort put into finding appropriate and responsible ways to recycle is well worth it in the long run. Every item you recycle is one less in the landfill.
The 3 Rs are all around us today. Sometimes they require us to make sacrifices and think outside the box, but when it comes to sustainability and being responsible stewards of our planet’s resources, every step towards green is a step in the right direction.
Photo Credit: Flickr user gaborbasch
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