Getting Back to Basics - 3 R's

Recycling seems to be the buzz word these days within households, businesses, and communities - which is great!  I am so proud of the efforts people are making to try and improve the Earth by trying to recycle products they would normally just toss in the trash.  This is the way we are going to start to make the difference the world needs to continue surviving.  The other day I went to Kean coffee shop and saw what an amazing job they were doing being environmental stewards, not because they had recycling bins but because they took it one step further.  They took an average coffee sleeve and put an even larger impact on it than just making it out of recycled materials or asking people to recycle them when their coffee was finished.  No - they asked them to REUSE this simple product.

If you look back at the 3 R's its:

• Reduce
• Reuse
• Recycle

Recycling has always come last because it's the slower of the 3 to make a difference.  Just by taking this 1 step up the ladder made such a difference in energy use and true impact they are making on the environment.  Although it might be a bit complicated for a company to implement a "reduction" program as they want their products to be bought - inspiring people to reuse parts of their product is a great deal more efficient.

These coffee sleeves aren't destroyed like a paper coffee cup after 1 use, there is no mold there is no bacteria really and it never touches the coffee so why not reuse it?  By reusing it you are either saving it from going to the landfill where it just adds to our growing trash problem as it struggles to decompose; or it goes to be recycled where it takes time and energy to turn the paper into something else.  I've never seen another company try and work their way up the ladder of the 3R's but Kean coffee shop is doing it right!

It really makes me think what else could be reused instead of simply recycled, are there more things that I am overlooking as I sort out my waste?  Its great food for thought, what do you think could be better reused than recycled?  Let me know in the comment section below!