By Alegre Ramos
Most people can quote the 3Rs: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE, however, since becoming a mantra of the green movement twenty-plus years ago, much has been lost in their meaning.  In addition to being updated, the 3R’s needed to be expanded in order to make them more relevant to our modern life.  What follows is the Green and Greener 6R’s for green living in the modern day.  The most important thing to keep is mind is that the R’s, both the original version and ours, are hierarchical in their structure, meaning R1, reduce, has the MOST beneficial impact on the planet, and R6 has the “least.”

R1: REDUCE: which means reduce use of raw materials and energy by reducing consumption. This is the step that has the most opportunity for reducing your footprint on the planet. In some ways it is the easiest step since it requires no action; however, it does require a mind shift when it comes to shopping. A good way to start on your path to reduced consumption is to give yourself a “consumer time-out” when you find something that you like but don’t need. Don’t buy the item right away. Instead, go home and give yourself 24-hours to see if you really will use the item. If you go home and forget about the item, you probably didn’t really want it. If you can’t stop thinking about it, go ahead and give yourself permission to get it.  If you find that too difficult, then buy the item but don’t use it right away and keep the receipt.  If after a week you still haven’t used it, consider returning it.  Reducing doesn’t just mean not buying things, it also means using your current resources more efficiently.  For instance, reduce your printer margins to use less paper, drive 55 and get 20%+ more miles per gallon, use drip irrigation instead of sprinklers or buy used. Getting into the “reduce” mindset will really get you thinking differently about the way you live and use things and soon you’ll be finding ways to “reduce” that are easy but have a big impact.

R2: RESEARCH: which means that once you’ve decided you really need to buy something, do the research to buy the “greenest” option out there. Questions you should ask include: is the product made with recycling in mind, did the company who made it pay a fair wage in its manufacturing, is the product non-toxic, where was it made and can I get it more locally? Do your homework. This step will also help with step R1: reducing consumption because sometimes you might find that there is no green option out there and maybe that means you shouldn’t buy the product at all.

R3: RUN IT INTO THE GROUND: once you’ve decided to buy something, use it until it falls apart!  I rarely buy something that I don’t plan on hanging onto for 10+ years.  You don’t have to be that extreme, but if you buy something that you need and/or like that is a quality product, why not make the most of it?  It’s better for the environment (by minimizing demands on raw materials and on energy use for production) and it’s HEAVEN to your pocket book.

R4: REUSE/REPURPOSE/REPAIR/RETURN: traditionally the second R was “reuse” which means to continue to give a product life beyond it’s perhaps short planned life, however, we felt that was a little narrow. So for instance, you are REUSING a plastic water bottle by refilling it with water a second time. However, you could also REPURPOSE it by using it as a bird feeder. Also, once something has broken you can make it useful again by REPAIRING it.  The fourth option RETURN is something that was very popular back in the day which is to RETURN the product to where it came so it may be reused (for instance: glass milk bottles.) The benefits of RETURNING over RECYCLING is that the product doesn’t need to undergo an energy intensive remanufacturing (aka: recycling) process to be useful again.  REPURPOSING can also be really fun in that it encourages you to look creatively at the resources you have.  For instance, when we remodeled Green and Greener we took the old vinyl blinds from the previous tenants and applied them to the walls as a decorative finish and we turned old wine crates into speakers.

R5: RECYCLE: Only once you have exhausted the options above do we move on to recycling, which has gotten a disproportional amount of the 3R attention considering it is the lowest ranking of them.  Recycling means: to take an object and use energy and resources in order to turn it back into raw materials for further manufacturing.  While it’s better than throwing an item away, it still requires a lot of transportation and energy, so it’s not the cure all many believe.  Almost anything CAN be recycled, the real question is: is it valuable enough that someone is actually doing it?  Use the web to find out the what/where/how of recycling.  Two good resource are the National Recycling Coalition’s site: http://www.nrc-recycle.org/localresources.aspx and LIME’s guide to “How to Recycle Everything:” http://www.lime.com/features/limes_guide_to_recycling

R6: RESPONSIBLE DISPOSAL: Once you’ve done everything above, you might still have some items to dispose of and the key is to do this responsibly. Remember that fruit, vegetable and yard waste doesn’t have to be thrown away; it can be composted (which is step R3.)  Most metal, paper, plastic and glass can be easily recycled locally (step R4.)  Other traditionally “trash” items have green alternatives such as biodegradable cellulose sponges instead of the synthetic variety and rechargeable batteries instead of single use.  Items such as compact fluorescent light bulbs, single use batteries, prescription drugs, electronics and paint thinner are just some of the “household hazardous waste” (HHW) that needs to be disposed of properly in order to not contaminate the land and water in your area.  It only takes very little mercury or leads to do real harm to ground water and you’d be surprised at how often these two metals show up in products!  Check with your city’s waste pick-up for HHW drop-off locations in your area.  Often, living a greener life means you will have fewer HHW items because you will have reduced your consumption of these items to begin with.

With a little practice the 6R’s will become second nature to you and will keep you and the planet healthier and wealthier.  Don’t feel overwhelmed by the information, true change comes with time.  The key is to do a little bit now and to grow from there.  Remember, that big change comes from lots of people making little changes.  So make your little change today!

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Alegre Ramos is a LEED AP interior designer and green living expert based in the San Fernando Valley.  Her store, Green and Greener, is located in Valley Village and online at http://green-and-greener.com.  Stay up to date on important green info by signing-up for her Twitter feed http://twitter.com/greenandgreener.  Copyright Green and Greener 2010.  All rights reserved.