Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: what does it mean? - Ohio Valley ...

These are the three essential components of environmentally-responsible consumer behavior - reduce, reuse and recycle. The goal of the 3 Rs ... skiptomaincontent Home Residential CurbsideWasteCollectionResidentialDumpsters Commercial CommercialWaste&RecyclingServicesCommercialRoll-OffDumpstersCompactorSales&Maintenance TransferStation ExistingCustomers PayYourBillResidentialServiceInformationResidentialRecyclingGuidelinesCommercialServiceInformationPaperlessBillingSignupContactUs What'sNew Careers Reduce,Reuse,Recycle:whatdoesitmean? 5/31/2017 Youprobablylearnedthe3Rsofresponsiblewastemanagementinschool.Thesearethethreeessentialcomponentsofenvironmentally-responsibleconsumerbehavior-reduce,reuseandrecycle.Thegoalofthe3Rsistoeducatepeopleonhowtopreventexcessiveandunnecessarywaste,andtolimittheconsumptionofnon-renewableresources.   Ifyouhaveayoungchildathome,orjustneedarefresheryourself,hereisreminderofhowyoucanchangesomesimpledailyhabitstokeepwasteoutofthelandfill.   Reduce Reducetheamountofmaterialsandgoodsyouconsume.Thismightmeanlimitingtheamountofpurchasesyoumakeinthefirstplace.Doyoureallyneedanotherbottleofnailpolish,oranotherpairofblackshoes?Todetermineyourtrueneedsandavoidimpulsebuys,trythethreedayrule:ifyouwanttobuysomethingnon-essential,waitthreedays.Ifyou'restillthinkingaboutitthreedayslater,thenyoucanbuyit.Morethanlikely,youwillhaveforgottenaboutit.   Thereareotherwaystoreduceyourconsumptionwithoutlimitingpurchases.Buyingfoodsinbulkoftenmeanslesspackagingwaste.Buyinginbulkisusefulifyouaresureyouwillneedthefullquantityyou'rebuying.Otherwise,itcouldbewastefulifyoucan'tuseallofthegoodsbeforetheyexpire.   Budgetingcanalsohelpyoureduceresourceconsumption.Ifyouarethinkingaboutanewcomputer,butyouroldcomputerworkswell,saveupyourmoneylittlebylittleuntilyoucanaffordanewonewithoutusingacreditcardorpaymentplan.Bythetimeyou'vegottenthemoneysavedup,youmayactually need thenewcomputer,oryoumayhaverealizedthere'sabetteruseforyoursaved-upmoney.   Turningofflightswhenyou'renotintheroom,unpluggingelectronicswhennotinuse,andfixingdrippyfaucetsareotherwaystoreduceyourconsumptionofessentialresources.Itwillalsoloweryourutilitybills-bonus!   Reuse Reusingistheactoftakingolditemsthatyoumightconsiderthrowingawayandfindinganewuseforthem.   Getthemostmileageoutofthematerialsyouencounter.Jarsfromgrocerystorefoodscanbeusedtostoreleftoversortotakelunchtowork.Useoldclothingascleaningrags.   Sometimesmaterialscanbereusedbyotherpeople.Workingcomputersandpartscanoftenbedonatedtocommunitycentersorcharitableorganizations.Clothingcanoftenbedonatedandgivenasecondlife.   Recycle Thisisprobablythemostwell-knownandwell-understoodofthe3Rs.Ifyouhaverecyclingpick-upservices,youwillbefamiliarwithrecyclingpaper,plasticandmetalmaterials.ThesematerialsarecarefullyprocessedatTCRecycling.Theseparatedandprocessedmaterialswilllaterbeprocessedintoothergoods.   Buyingrecycledgoodsisanotherwaytoparticipateinthispartofthe3Rs.Youmaystarttonoticemoreandmoreproductswitha"MadeFromRecycledMaterial"stamp.Theseproductsarenodifferentfromstandard goods;they'rejusthelpingtomakethemostofvaluableresources.