Recycle, Reuse, Reduce
Since we were all little kids (at least as a member of the millenials), we were taught the three R’s of life: Recycle, Reuse, Reduce! These days, most of us try to recycle as often as we can, but we ignore the other two. I think the main reason most of us actually ignore the other two and don’t really think of recycling is that there is really no immediate and personal incentive to go through with the system. Basically, we take all this extra effort to do something that we are told is good, but we don’t get anything out of it (except perhaps a healthy conscious if you’re that religious about it). Most people think recycling gives the best monetary incentive because you can easily collect all of your cans and bottles and get some money from a recycling plant. This is actually a fantastic way to get money back, but it takes planning and little bit of will power.
Reducing gives the least incentive as it requires a significant amount of time, upfront costs for reducing equipment like compost bins, and most people don’t actually use compost that often. If gardening is your thing, then it’s a pretty awesome investment that will give you fantastic returns.
Next is Reuse. I have to admit that this one is my favorite and the one I see most of my savings come from. My absolute favorite thing to reuse is pasta sauce jars. If you are just out of college, like me, and you make tons of pasta, like me, and your kitchen is stocked up with essential items: a couple of forks, a couple of spoons, maybe some knives (forks can double up as knives), and like one or two cups, like me; pasta sauce jars are a godsend. I use them for everything from gardening (as plant pots) to baking (as mixing bowls). My absolute favorite thing about pasta sauce jars is that they double up as the most perfect (and quirky, in my opinion) drinking glasses. Something about drinking out of them, kind of like drinking out of a Erlenmeyer flask, makes the liquid inside taste so much better. So the next time you go make some pasta, keep your jars instead of recycling them, and before you know it, you’ll have a fully stocked eclectic kitchen.
Happy Reusing!