5 R's of zero waste

It’s a catchy phrase: the 5 R’s of zero waste. The words themselves also roll off the tongue: refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, rot. I recently shared book notes from my reading of Bea Johnson’s Zero Waste Home, that includes this concept and I wanted to do a deeper dive through the layers.

Johnson introduces the 5 R's concept early in her book, along with some of the benefits the approach offers. The wonderful thing about having a framework to start from, is that the benefits and results look different for each person based around their sustainability journey and life stage. It becomes a choose your own adventure of caring for the planet. 

Below are my notes on the 5 R's section of Zero Waste Home, followed by some of my thoughts about how the framework has come to life for me.  
​
Book notes

• Just because you put something in the bin doesn’t mean it’s gone
• Zero waste starts outside the home by stopping the flow in
• Refuse (1), what we do not need. Refusing doesn’t make the waste immediately disappear, it creates demand for alternatives
• Reduce (2), what we do need and cannot refuse. Question the need and use of past, present, and future purchases. Planned obsolescence comes into play here - reduce this too
• Reuse (3), what we consume and cannot refuse or reduce. Recycling is processing that item into another like item, whereas reusing is in its original form and not processing. Eliminates wasteful consumption, alleviates resource depletion, and extends the life of items. Maintenance and care of items is important. Cradle to cradle lifecycle of items - where did they come from and where do they end up? Creativity to reuse an item as something else (repurpose)
• Recycle (4), what we cannot refuse, reduce, or reuse. So many issues with both consumer and business sides of recycling but have to create demand for alternatives and recycling plays a part in this
• Rot (5), compost the rest. Observable and deeply satisfying process of starting with organic matter and ending with amazing soil. Large closed loop system of waste cycle that all manufacturing should be based on. Benefits aren’t just ecological, also financial, health, time

A cross stitch representation of the 5 R's of zero waste

The 5 R's in my life
Waste is very much an out of sight out of mind thing, people think if something goes in the bin then it’s gone. They don’t know about or don’t want to know what happens to the waste after that, or acknowledge it all still exists somewhere on the planet. It's still a useful reminder for me to picture what happens next when I put something in the bin.

Refuse (1), what we do not need
You sometimes get funny looks when refusing items. This is most common I’ve found when refusing free items. It’s quite funny, people seem to think if something is free then there’s no harm in taking it even if it’s worthless or will go in the bin very soon after.
Refusing along with reducing have been the most effective layers of the 5 R's for me to reduce not only waste in my life but the overall amount of stuff.

​Reduce (2), what we do need and cannot refuse
It may take a little while for the benefits of reducing to make themselves seen and felt. Some of the best strategies for me to reduce what I “need” is to avoid advertising and shopping, and going without for a time to see if it’s something I feel the absence of. Over time this frees up your headspace and creates physical space in your home for creativity and relaxation.

​​Reuse (3), what we consume and cannot refuse or reduce
The strongest method I use for reuse is through my sewing and craft. I need to hunt down creative ways to reuse items in other areas when the opportunities come!
I also maintain and care for fabric items to extend their life. Maintenance is easier than reusing sometimes. Maintaining your possessions can be very satisfying, whether it’s removing stains, polishing shoes, or sharpening knives.
I recently learned about the winter of care and repair created by @thepeoplesmending, which is a nice collective way of focusing on caring for your belongings and the planet.
Cradle to cradle is a design approach I’d like to learn more about. In my sewing I’m slowly moving towards it, using secondhand fabrics of natural materials paired with cotton thread rather than polyester so those items can be composted at the end of their life, hopefully a long time down the road.

Recycle (4), what we cannot refuse, reduce, or reuse
I think Johnson summarises recycling and its issues well. I feel conflicted about it, I’m unsure where my local city recycling goes and how much of it ends up not being recycled, so it’s a good reminder that these actions can create demand for better technologies and industry for recycling. I drop off a few types of items to Reverse Garbage Queensland where they’re used for craft workshops. That’s my favourite way to recycle items and keep them out of landfill!

​Rot (5), compost the rest
One of the reasons me and my husband moved from an apartment to a house with land is so we could compost. We had a little Bokashi bucket I would drop at the community garden compost hub but I never quite got the hang of it and it wasn’t convenient. Now we have 2 compost bins in our yard where one is being actively added to and the other is sitting and magically turning to beautiful soil.
Have you ever heard someone call compost black gold? I understand what they mean now, when the compost is ready to go it’s dense and dark and smells beautiful. Using our compost on our gardens and pot plants gives me an amazing feeling of satisfaction and pride.

A cross stitch representation of the main 5 R labels, as a fridge magnet

That brings us to the bottom of the 5 R's of zero waste layers. We still generate waste in my household, there are items that go straight into the bin, but it’s certainly a lot less than it used to be.
I feel to work the zero waste approach takes intention and focus, and time to embed the habits into your life. And it's something you can continue working on for a long time, if not the rest of your life.

I mentioned this in my previous blog post about Zero Waste Home: that zero waste language has moved on to be more about low waste rather than zero. It's a tall order to achieve zero waste when we live in a consumerist and capitalist society usually working against these 5 principles. I believe it's highly worth the effort to aim for though, as you'll still benefit the environment, it's plants and animals, and yourself.