by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Reuse, including repair and upcycling, must come directly after “reduce” in the “Rs” of waste management and well before any thought of recycle. Recycle must be the very last resort.
But we are being told, on an almost daily basis, the the powers that be to recycle more. No one mentions reuse to us directly although it is in the 3 Rs that are always quoted and stands on second place. Nevertheless reuse is hardly ever mentioned and brought into the equation. Can you guess why this is so?
Apart from the fact that most things have a short lifespan factored in only and cannot be repaired and hey have been designed in such a way that no one can even open the case let alone do any work on it, reuse does not generate any revenue for councils. Thus is, therefore, possibly one of the reasons why recycling is being promoted well above reuse.
Many people, if not even the great majority, in Britain for sure, don't seems to be able to think reuse as to this or that item of “waste” at all. They cannot make a connection, for instance, between buying a metal pencil pin and throwing away a clean tin can, or buying glass storage jars – even if recycled glass – and the produce jars that they have thrown into the recycling bin. It would appear that they require a guidebook with idea on this subject.
They do exist, of that I am sure, and of one of them I am 100% certain, for it is one that I have written myself and published through Tatchipen Media as an E-book. However, it will be undergoing a revision shortly, as other things need to be added.
The reuse of “waste” was natural to our Elders, and not just those from my Race. If something could be reused it was; not ifs or buts. Why would they throw something away that they could use in lieu of something brought.
Many of our compatriots, however, can only think of going to the store and buying what they want and need even when it could be easily made from something that would otherwise go into the waste stream.
What came so very natural to our grandparents and great-grandparents and, in some cases, our parents even still, seems to be entirely an alien thing to the the consumer generation of today. A trip to the stores is called for in 90% of cases, so it would seem, even if they have the material right there at hand with which to make the very thing that they wish to have for little to nothing and better may be even than what could be bought. Alas, no, the stores it has to be.
We cannot continue in this way as it is first of all not sustainable and secondly soon simply will no longer be possible, for a variety of reasons; costs being just one of them.
Reuse must be first and foremost in our thoughts when it comes to managing our waste at home, in the office, at the workplace, and even as far as to the rubbish dump.
While reduce must be the first step, and that is where we come in by buying less (oh no, but what about the economy? It is going to pots if we don't keep buying more, and more and more.), and the manufacturers and stores by using less packaging and I could go off one one here again but won't right now but won't. Suffice to say that more often than not things are completely over-packaged and this is one of the reasons, aside from people throwing too much stuff away, that our rubbish dumps are full to capacity.
And while reduce is the first and foremost requirement reusing comes immediately after that and it is here were we, as individuals, can really make a difference.
© 2011
