#Reduce

[gaylienz]

The 7 R’s of Sustainability:

Did you know that ‘recycling’ is step 6 of the 7 Rs of sustainability? The other R’s are just as important even if they are often forgotten.

Rethink- Do I really need to buy this? The point of this step is to stop and think.

Refuse- Does this product damage the environment? If so, refuse to spend your money on it. i.e. single use plastics, harsh chemicals

Reduce- How much of this do I really need? Buy less! Buy in bulk when you can as it often equals less packaging to throw out.

Reuse- Can I use this product again? Can I fix what I have so that I don��t need to buy something new? Reuse that plastic water bottle a few times. And instead of buying new, try thrift shopping, flea markets, yard sales etc.

Repurpose- Unlimited creativity! Does this item have another use? i.e. old torn clothes can be rags or plastic cups can be planters.

Recycle- Can I recycle this? Not everything can be. There are also some important steps to making sure your recycling is done properly. If unsure, look up local recycling regulations.

Rot- Can I compost this? Food waste, yard clippings, newspapers and many other items can be composted instead of being tossed in the trash. Composting is surprisingly simple and helps reduce harmful greenhouse gasses from entering the atmosphere.

What is the point of the R’s? The number one benefit of the 7 R’s are the reduction of the amount of waste sent to incinerators and landfills. The EPA website provides a lot of useful information. Other benefits that we can reap from implementing these concepts in our life are (as listed on the EPA website): • Prevents pollution caused by reducing the need to harvest new raw materials • Saves energy from not making a new product • Reduces greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change • Helps sustain the environment and natural resources for future generations • Saves money from processing our waste • Increases economic security by tapping a domestic source of materials • Helps create jobs in the recycling and manufacturing industries in the United States

https://www.northglenn.org/government/departments/public_works/trash/recycling.php https://www.nrdc.org/stories/composting-101 https://www.epa.gov/recycle https://www.northglenn.org/Recycling%20Article.pdf

[reasonsforhope]

"Kristina Smithe was running the California International Marathon in 2019, grabbing cups of water to stay hydrated, when she started to think about how much waste such events produce. On the flight home, she did the math: 9,000 runners, 17 aid stations and something like 150,000 cups used once and thrown away.

“I was just shocked that, even in California, it’s not sustainable,” Smithe said.

That sparked her idea for something more durable — a lightweight, pliable silicone cup that could be used again and again. After working out a design, Smithe ordered her first shipment and tested them at a race in 2021.

Now her business, Hiccup Earth, has 70,000 cups that Smithe rents out to interested races to replace the typical white paper cups that can pile up like snowdrifts at busy water stops.

Billions of disposable cups are used around the world each year. These cups are often made of plastic, but even if they are made of paper, they typically have a plastic lining that makes it difficult for them to biodegrade. And making these cups, and disposing or burning them, generates planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

“That’s just a small subset of the amount of plastic waste that we produce, but it’s a pretty visible one,” said Sarah Gleeson, solutions research manager and plastics waste expert at climate nonprofit Project Drawdown. “It’s something that generates a lot of waste, and waste — depending on what exactly it’s made of — can really last in landfills for hundreds of years.”

As she was getting her business off the ground, Smithe emailed race directors to ask if their event used disposable cups.

“The answer was always yes,” she said. Her response: “If you’re looking for a sustainable solution, I have one.”

Now, she rents out the cups by the thousand, driving them to events in massive totes and leaving bins with the company logo for collection after use. Smithe picks up the used cups and washes them in a proprietary dishwasher.

At the PNC Women Run the Cities race in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, in early May, Smithe helped quench the thirst of thousands of runners, dropping off 17-gallon tote bags full of her flexible blue cups.

After that race, Smithe, 35, estimated she’s taken her cups to 137 races and spared 902,000 disposable ones from the landfill. She also says her washing process needs only 30 gallons (114 liters) of water per 1,500 cups. An average efficient household dishwasher uses 3 to 5 gallons (11 to 19 liters) for far fewer dishes.

“It’s just a solution to a problem that’s long overdue,” Smithe said.

One trade-off is that the cup rentals cost race directors more than other options. Disposable cups might run just a few cents each, while 10,000 Hiccup cups would rent for about 15 cents each. That price drops if more cups are needed.

Gleeson, of Project Drawdown, sees the reusable cups as just one of many ways that innovators are looking to cut down on waste. Such solutions often have to be rooted in convenience and grounded in local or small applications to get more people to adopt them. Some cities, for instance, are experimenting with reusable food takeout containers that customers return to nearby drop-off spots later on.

While no one solution can fully tackle the problem, “The scalability is there,” Gleeson said. “I think in general, high adoption of these kinds of solutions is what is able to bring costs down and really maximize environmental benefits that you could get.”"

-via AP News, May 27, 2025

[fishcrow]

Reduce Reuse Recycle..

Don't forget to save the environment!

[urban-homesteading]

[sillycourtjester]

Made another zine, "reduce, reuse, upcycle" it's about action against fast fashion, with anarchist themes.

Reblogs > likes

[ankewehner]

You know what would be cool? A "leave one - take one" box for cloth shopping bags near the register in shops.

Forgot your bag at home, or bought more or more bulky things than you expected? Grab a bag instead of buying a paper bag that is nominally reusable, but usually isn't re-used. Have too many cloth shopping bags at home? Wash them and leave a few at the box for someone else…

[2022dirt]

Some hotels use “waste reducing” soap bars to eliminate the unused center.

[xeniyck]

Made pillows from all the scrap fabric from making my wardrobe. I stuffed it with even smaller scraps.

[steven-sandner]

Backyard Sunset! In Australia, initiatives like the “Boomerang Bags” program encourage reusing fabric bags, reducing plastic bag use by 10 million annually.

More about me & prints https://linktr.ee/steven.sandner

f/5.6 · 1/200s · ISO 200

[a-strawberry-mouse]

I took a break from the towel for an interesting task.

To molt a toy of its robotic parts so it can be a stuffy. Like this one:

The inside parts were malfunctioning and it kept neighing repeatedly. Like a horsey demon.

There wasn't a way to fix it. Plastic parts, plastic gears, glued together motor cage, etc.

I had to wrestle the legs out and cut the heads inside fabric off of the mechanical parts.

It's like making a lobster molt upside down.

What am I doing?

This is fine.

This is a normal activity.

It looks fine!

This is a normal unicorn!

Look at them all ready for playtime!

I had some concerns that a leg would rip, but no! And back to the owner immediately. I had to ask for it back to take a picture.

[madameraccoon]

Guess who's the idiot just realised that they've written a chapter that isn't coherent within their fic, AFTER publishing it, and now they have to rewrite it?

Ah, right, that would be me!

[soclonely]

No one:

Me when I get something in a Nicely Shaped box: This is a nicely shaped box. I am keeping you

[quotes-for-the-soul]

In the end, rage, no matter how profoundly justified, destroys the enraged. Just as we are created anew by what we love, so we are reduced and remade by what we hate.

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie

[urban-homesteading]

Anyone else remember these huge pieces of entertainment furniture that everyone seemed to have? Turns out they can find some new life.

[seattlewalls]