In the past few months, I have been trying my best to follow 5’R. It is something that I have been living by every single day, and that has influenced every single purchase, and today I would like to dig in and tell you all about it.

You might wonder what the 5’R are and I will explain them to you in the 5 different steps

Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot

The first step is to REFUSE what you do not need. This would be saying no to waste that comes in the form of single-use bags, straws, coffee cups, cutlery, water bottles, junk mail, promotional freebies as well as any other short-lived items that are not required and would end up in the bin.

In the beginning, I often felt that refusing items that I did not need was harsh to the people I refused it from, but with time I have learned that a firm and friendly, ‘no thank you’ makes it a little better but I often find myself explaining the reason behind the ‘no thank you’ to people that are still left insisting for me to take something from them. After explaining to them that I am trying to live a more minimalistic life and that I am only taking items that I need to maintain this. It often motivates change in their lives too.

Saying no is something that you would have to get used to and the more you practice it, the easier it will become.

The second R, REDUCE what you can not refuse. Reducing can be applicable in a few ways. The first one is to reduce that, that you already have in your home. This can be anything from the amount of clothing you own, the amount of kitchenware you have to a number of small electronics. The second reduce is to reduce the number of items that you bring into your house. When heading to the shops only shop for items that you really need and oppose random purchased on things that you really do not need. These items often make their way to the bin, the back of a cupboard and a lot of these items are packaged in unsustainable packaging. These items can vary from food, electronics, fast fashion and toys or candy to name a few.

The third R — REUSE.

Find reusable and alternative items for the items that you cannot refuse or reduce. A few items that you can easily make the switch with is reusable water bottle to avoid purchasing single-use plastic bottles. Replace the single-use plastic bags with a reusable fabric bag. Add a reusable cutlery set to your handbag or keep it close to avoid any disposable cutlery. You can even add a glass or metal straw if you prefer drinking your drink with a straw rather than to use a single-use straw.

You can also invest in reusable containers that you would also be able to take with you to the bulk food sections to fill up or when picking up dinner. You could also ditch paper towels and tissues by switching for a washable dishtowel.

Reusable items do not have to cost a small fortune; you could also get creative. You could look at purchasing an item in reusable glass containers or even dig one out in the cupboard that I am sure we all have. You would be able to reuse these containers again and again. These jars can be used to store food, serve as a lunch box or even a water or coffee container. If you are worried that the container might break while having your coffee on the go, use one of your widow socks. You know the socks that go into the washer married and for some reason come out a widow. The possibilities are endless.

The Fourth R, Recycle. Recycle what you can not refuse, reduce or reuse. Recycling is very low on the list as I feel that this should not be our go-to solution. I think there is a big misconception about recycling. I often hear a lot of people justifying the use of single-use plastic, because they recycle. A lot of the facilities do not recycle all the different plastics and therefore it is essential to know what type of plastics as well as other materials can your nearest facility recycle.

Recycling is such a labour and energy-intensive process, that downcycle the materials into often lower quality. After visiting some of the facility and seeing how the materials are sorted, washed and the smells, oh my the smell that surrounded us was something that I till to this day get nauseous just thinking about it. So for me, recycling is defiantly one of the last resorts. This has made me change the way I shop to minimise the number of items that I have to send for recycling facilities. In the case that I am purchasing something that needs to be recycled or disposed of I check the label and determine if it can be recycled at the local facility and if not, I would evaluate the importance of the item and look into other methods to dispose of it afterwards, to ensure I send as little as possible to the landfill.

The final R, Rot. AKA compost. For me rot close the loop. If you look at the number of food waste, it is scary to think that most of that food ends up in landfills. I have tried my best to reduce the amount of food waste, but with cooking at home a lot I find that I often have some bits and pieces left over from preparing the food and these would be great for composting.

For me living in an apartment composting was one of the harder things to do as I had no balcony and our building would not have been too happy with me, starting our little building compost in the basement and we currently do not have a green bin program through the municipality. Therefore I had to look at different options. The first one was the Bokashi bins that rely on bacterial fermentation although there was still a smell that I did not feel comfortable with. The second option was the Smart Cara. The Smart Cara is lovely waste disposal unit that makes it easy for me to add all the food scraps too, ones it is full I can switch on the energy efficient machine and in a few hours, I am left with a soil-like consistency that I can use for my plants.

And there you have it the 5’R is. Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot and I am looking forward to hearing more about your journey and how you have started to implement this in your daily life.

🎨Artist turning trash to treasure 🌍Environmentalist saving the planet 1🥤 at a time 🎤Speaker 👩🏽‍🏫Workshops 🏆Most Sustainable Award🎙️Podcast Host

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