The slogan Reduce, reuse, repair and recycle is an approach to the waste hierarchy that seeks to be as ecologically appropriate as possible and maximize the value and use out of a resource. It is sometimes shortened to "reduce, reuse, recycle" and sometimes, a fifth 'R' is added, such as 'refuse', 'remanufacture', 'recover', 'restore', 'redesign', 'repurposing', 'rot' (compost), etc.[1]
Community action projects[edit | edit source]
- Bring and Fix schemes
- Community art from recycled materials
- Community paper collections
- Develop community libraries of all kinds thereby promoting reuse and sharing, see separate article
- Develop Community Recycling schemes or cooperatives, Community Wood Recycling Projects, Community compost schemes
- Enable Computer recycling and Furniture recycling
- Give or take days, Give or take stalls at Green fairs
- Nappy laundering service
- Plastic recycling, see Precious plastic
- Precycling, Waste minimisation
- promote free reuse and Better Use
- Promoting products that are actually repairable in the first place (and not engineered to be disposable). A wiki or magazine could provide info on the most repairable products.
- Rent instead of buy
- Repair services and repair cafes
- Scrapstores
- Second-hand clothing, etc. stores, support charity shops
- Waste exchange schemes
- X-mas present swapping market
Bring and fix[edit | edit source]
Article in NewStart, October 2011
Bring & Fix, Rushey Green Time Bank, and on facebook
Precious plastic[edit | edit source]
- A Big Bang for Plastic Recycling
- Commmunity Map: community.preciousplastic.com
- Commmunity How-Tos: community.preciousplastic.com, added 15:56, 30 November 2022 (UTC)
Precious Plastic Version 4: A Big Bang for the Plastic Recycling crisis EINDHOVEN, The Netherlands - 7th January 2020
To date, only 9 percent of the plastic waste ever generated has been recycled, and only 14 per cent is collected for recycling now, according to the UN*.
For 6 years now, Precious Plastic is on a mission to boost these numbers with a bottom-up approach bringing recycling technologies and knowledge in the hands of everyone, all open source for free. Machines and techniques empower people around the world to start recycling plastic and create new financial value from a ubiquitous free resource, plastic waste. With more than a year of research and development, the fourth version of the project is released today, the Precious Plastic Universe.
It is an ecosystem of local recycling businesses built through business models, new and improved recycling machines, developments in product design techniques, guidelines to start collecting plastic, methods to create local recycling communities and online tools to share knowledge and to collaborate online and offline.
Now, everyone can get started on their plastic recycling journey. Everyone is a recycler.
Anyone, whether you are an engineer, machine builder, product designer, entrepreneur, volunteer or just a citizen worried about plastic pollution, you are now able to directly impact the global recycling problem. By focusing on businesses with this new iteration of the project, Precious Plastic can tip the scale in the right direction by fighting the plastic waste crisis on the bottom level. Because to have the greatest impact on local plastic waste, daily action needs to occur. There fore, for people wanting to do more, there needs to be facilities and tools for them to sustain themselves monetarily off of plastic recycling.
More businesses, more recycling. That simple. [2]
Repair Café[edit | edit source]
A Repair Cafe is a meeting in which people repair appliances/devices, organized by and for local residents. They meet at a fixed location where tools are available and where they can fix their broken stuff with the help of handy volunteers. Objectives are to reduce the waste pile, to maintain repairing knowledge and to strengthen the social cohesion. W
Waste minimization[edit | edit source]
Waste minimization is a process of elimination that involves reducing the amount of waste produced in society and helps eliminate the generation of harmful and persistent wastes, supporting the efforts to promote a more sustainable society. Waste minimisation involves redesigning products and/or changing societal patterns, concerning consumption and production, of waste generation, to prevent the creation of waste. W
Resources[edit | edit source]
Networks[edit | edit source]
- Plastic Pollution Coalition, global alliance of individuals, organizations and businesses working together to stop plastic pollution and its toxic impacts on humans, animals, the ocean and the environment.
- Repair Café
- WARPit, resource redistribution network
Events[edit | edit source]
- Restart Parties & other community repair events, The Restart Project
Citizens data initiative[edit | edit source]
- Recycling Infographic from reusethisbag.com
temporary editorial note: Technology Used to Protect Our Planet link moved to Ethical consumerism 08:46, 10 December 2015 (PST)
How to's[edit | edit source]
- How to Start a Repair Café, Shareable
- How & When to Resole Climbing Shoes Climbing Shoes Resoling
Maps[edit | edit source]
- Global map of Restart Parties
- The grassroots repair and fixit movement, Map brought to you by The Restart Project
Quotes[edit | edit source]
"“The most important fact about our shopping malls is that we do not need most of what they sell.” Henry Fairlie [3]
"If the garbage man calls, tell him we don't want any" Groucho Marx
Research[edit | edit source]
Grassroots Innovation and the Circular Economy - A Global Survey of Repair Cafés and Hackerspaces PDF, July 2014
Video[edit | edit source]
more video: NESTA innovation in giving fund - Bring and Fix on vimeo
Other reources[edit | edit source]
- iFixit, the free repair guide for everything, written by everyone. Global community of people helping each other repair things
- Restart Party Kit
- MyFixGuide, Teardown, Repair Guide For Laptop and Smartphone
News and comment[edit | edit source]
2022
- How Eco Fibra is tackling the fashion dumpster in the Chilean Desert, Shareable (May 11, 2022)
2021
Repairing and reusing household goods could create thousands of green jobs across the UK, Aug 4 [4] ...Reduce, reuse, repair and recycle UK
Right to repair movement gains power in US and Europe, Jul 7 [5]
2019
From Oakland to Utrecht, sustainability-focused maker villages unite artisans for creative exchange, Nov 26 [6]
Yes, Recycling is Broken by @LeylaAcaroglu, Jul 22 [7]
From compostable diapers to recyclable building material: meet the 30 semi finalists challenging plastic waste. Jun 27 [8] ...Europe news
Mending hearts: how a ‘repair economy’ creates a kinder, more caring community, Jun 12 [9]
Bringing the power of plastic recycling to the people, May 6 [10]
The library of things: could borrowing everything from drills to disco balls cut waste and save money? Apr 24 [11] ...Oxfordshire
Composting in NYC, Mar 19 [12]
Zero Waste Challenge, Roubaix, Feb 14
Capannori's zero-waste strategy, Feb 5
Demanding a 'right to repair', Jan 16 [13]
'Right to repair' gathers force, Jan 9 [14] ...Climate news 2019
2018
ShareFest brings people together to share, repair, swap and make. Dec 7 [15] ...Totnes
Finland, Where second-hand comes first, Nov 8 [16]
Recycling hope for plastic-hungry enzyme, Apr 16 [17]
2017
Make supermarkets and drinks firms pay for plastic recycling, say MPs, Dec 22 [18] ...Reduce, reuse, repair and recycle UK
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The 81-year-old woman inspiring Lebanon to recycle, Jun 8 [19]
Stop 'N' Swap Events Make New York City More Sustainable, Apr 26 [20]
Sweden Opens World’s First Mall for Repaired and Recycled Goods, Apr 4 [21]
Stockholm Biochar Project, a Mayors Challenge Winner, Opens its First Plant, Mar 29 [22]
A Grassroots Repair Club in Argentina is Breaking the Cycle of Consumerism, Mar 15 [23]
2016
Germany Gleefully Leads List of World’s Top Recyclers, Nov 28 [24]
Shareable's Top 17 Decluttering Tips, Aug 3 [25]
2015
How to upcycle your neighbourhood, September 17 [26]
New worldwide website for Repair Café, September 9 [27]
Gambiarra: repair culture, March 8. "Repairing things as a cultural trend is inextricably related to organic food, natural birthing, cultural diversity, upcycling, sustainable mobility, urban farming, fair trade, culture of peace and digital commons." by felipefonseca [28]
2014
Plastic Bank: How to solve the plastic pollution problem and poverty at the same time, April 10 [29]
2010
Growing e-waste threat to health and the environment. Urgent need to prepare developing countries, says UN, 22 February [30]
See also[edit | edit source]
- Environment quality
- Ethical consumerism
- Food, sustainable community action
- Free stuff
- No such thing as waste
- Sharing
- Zero waste towns
- Sweden#Reduce, reuse, repair and recycle
- Category:Recycling
- Category:Composting
local information can be found, or shared, via our many location pages
External links[edit | edit source]
- Wikipedia: Zero waste and its Governance section, Waste reduction (category), Reuse (category), Recycling (category),
- The Plastic Bank, recycling to reduce plastic waste and poverty
- The Restart Project, London-based social enterprise aiming to revive electronics repair in order to reduce waste
- World Computer Exchange, USA and Canada based charity organization whose mission is "to reduce the digital divide for youth in developing countries, to use our global network of partnerships to enhance communities in these countries, and to promote the reuse of electronic equipment and its ultimate disposal in an environmentally responsible manner." W
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Glossary of sustainability terms
- ↑ preciousplastic.com/press
- ↑ designobserver.com
- ↑ theguardian.com
- ↑ BBC News
- ↑ Shareable
- ↑ Medium
- ↑ @nesta_uk
- ↑ theconversation.com
- ↑ Shareable
- ↑ The Guardian
- ↑ Shareable
- ↑ neweconomics.org
- ↑ BBC News
- ↑ Network of Wellbeing
- ↑ BBC News
- ↑ BBC News
- ↑ The Guardian
- ↑ bbc.co.uk
- ↑ @Shareable
- ↑ goodnewsnetwork.org
- ↑ bloomberg.org
- ↑ @Shareable
- ↑ nytimes.com
- ↑ Shareable
- ↑ NewStart
- ↑ Repair Café
- ↑ efeefe
- ↑ Mother Nature Network
- ↑ United Nations Environment Programme