Environmental decision-making

by Sky Trombly –

Throughout most of my life, I’ve been collecting eco-chores like some women collect shoes: the acquisition sporadic and whimsical and often with no thought as to where the actions fit in with other practices or how two actions compared with each other.

There were always a slew of decisions to make: organic, fair-trade, local, seasonal, non-GMO, cruelty-free … and that was just breakfast! (To say nothing about the processes used to ship, store and heat up the same breakfast.)

Beside the slew of decisions to make and actions to take (shorter showers, drive less, and so on), I was also increasingly aware of the lack of transparency perpetuated by various industries. It seemed companies benefited from deceiving the consumers who made them rich.

What was a slightly neurotic environmentalist to do?

My Epiphany With Zero Waste

This was when I came across the Zero Waste movement, as described by Béa Johnson. For those of you who may not know, Zero Waste is a personal sustainability project that one can take on to drastically reduce their environmental footprint and to comprehensively change one’s lifestyle. Béa Johnson, author of The Zero Waste Home, and one of the vocal founders of the movement, created a system called “the 5 R’s”, which, if addressed in order, places eco-tasks in a hierarchy and involves the full process of consumption.

Very briefly, the five R’s are:

− Refuse what you do not need

− Reduce what you do need

− Reuse what you have (also buy used)

− Recycle

− Rot (compost)

Less personal waste is produced by limiting consumption, keeping things in use, and by being conscious about the end game right from the beginning, a practice sometimes referred to as “pre-cycling”.

Béa’s family of four produces yearly waste that fits into a single mason jar.

It’s worth mentioning that her family is not suffering either. They get outside and play as a family, drink wine, dress well, take frequent trips, and are growing as people while contributing to major change.

What I learned from my exposure to Zero Waste is that by following a hierarchy of decision-making, eco-tasks no longer seemed endless and unrelated. By pursuing a system, I could simplify and prioritize my actions making myself more effective as an environmentalist.

Personalizing the 5Rs

While the 5R framework blew my mind, it doesn’t quite satisfy my needs. I’ve found that I had to personalize the list in order to internalize it well. Below, I’ve added my two cents to the list of 5Rs.

#1 & #2: Minimalism: Really this is suggested by the first two Rs

− Refuse what you do not need (or real          ly, really want and will use)

− Reduce what you do need

− Rethink the stuff that enters and exits your life (clothes, food, accessories, toiletries, hobbies)

The thing about beginning with minimalism is that it already makes an environmental impact regardless of where you get your items, how shady the companies are, or how questionable the assumptions you make because by consuming only what you’re going to need (or really, really want and will use) then you’re already cutting down on the funds supporting questionable industries and financially supporting industries that serve an actual need in your life.

Businesses may continue to lack honesty and transparency in their practices but minimalism helps to counteract this by forcing purchases to come against a different standard: one of actual need.

#3: Buy Used, Reuse, and Repair

(The third R, more or less)

This principle is best illustrated by buying (or swapping) used clothing as opposed to engaging in fast fashion.

Clothing is an extremely wasteful industry in all three areas of the line: production, consumption, and disposal. Every time that we can forego something new for something that is already in circulation, we financially support the reuse industry at the expense of throwing money to industries that grow cotton with deadly pesticides, abuse workers, or benefit from the death of animals. We keep clothes from filling up landfills. With every button we re-sew or hole we patch, we keep our clothes serviceable for longer.

#4: Recycling and Precycling

Recycling is not as “good” as reusing and this is why Mrs. Johnson places this practice in the hierarchy below reuse. The difference is that reuse is taking something in its previously manufactured form and finding a new purpose for it. An old glass becomes a toothbrush holder – no additional inputs necessary.

Recycling, long held up as the poster child for the environmental movement, requires collection, sorting, energy, water and other inputs in order to turn trash into a new useful item. It is often easier to harvest new natural resources than to recycle ones we’ve already taken as a society and therefore recycling needs consumer and governmental support in order to get a leg up in the industry.

Precycling is considering the disposal of materials at the point of purchase. For example, if you have the choice between two products, one in a glass bottle and one in plastic, you might choose the glass bottle as it is more likely to be recycled numerous times. A plastic bottle may not be recyclable at all or it could be down-cycled into a degraded plastic that again will not be recyclable.

#5: Rot and Roast

The last of the Rs refers to composting organic wastes. I do have a compost bin and 3 pile system that helps to feed my garden.

That said, there are some organic wastes I prefer to burn over composting. I only do this when there is no burn ban in effect in my area (this is most of the time in my wet climate) and I am not burning items such as treated wood or inorganic matter. I prefer to burn my broken bamboo spoons, cutting boards and wooden brushes. This is because in my small, 3 pile composting system, these items would be hard pressed to break down.

Closing Thoughts

While this 5R system is pretty comprehensive, it is also open and flexible. For example, I might happily disregard the length of my shower but still be decreasing my environmental footprint overall. As I gain confidence, commitment, or awareness, I can add in more eco-savvy practices. Continuing my example, I might decide that I have no need for ten minute daily showers after all.

Sky has been something of a sustainability nerd for most of her life. Her goal is  to empower herself and others to live in a way that is congruent with personal values – and intimately linked to the Earth.  You can join her in her wanderings through the quagmire of sustainable living in every issue of Owl Light News, and on her blog  – talkwalking.org