Focus first on waste reduction: reduce and reuse before relying on recycling
Reducing and reusing have greater value in terms of sustainability than recycling. Buying less new stuff and getting more use out of already existing stuff uses less resources and produces less waste. Recycling can be difficult to do correctly, and many materials remain unrecyclable. Despite this, there is a tendency for people attempting to be more sustainable to prioritize recycling over reduce or reuse. This behavior has been termed “recycling bias” and “reduction neglect.” The more effective way to reduce waste is to prevent its creation rather than relying on recycling.
See more details in this 2023 article in theconversation.com by Michaela Barnett, Leidy Klotz, Patrick I. Hancock, and Shahzeen Attari.
Reducing and reusing have greater value in terms of sustainability than recycling. Buying less new stuff and getting more use out of already existing stuff uses less resources and produces less waste. Recycling can be difficult to do correctly, and many materials remain unrecyclable. Despite this, there is a tendency for people attempting to be more sustainable to prioritize recycling over reduce or reuse. This behavior has been termed “recycling bias” and “reduction neglect.” The more effective way to reduce waste is to prevent its creation rather than relying on recycling.
See more details in this 2023 article in theconversation.com by Michaela Barnett, Leidy Klotz, Patrick I. Hancock, and Shahzeen Attari.
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