5 R’s:

Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,

Repurpose

BY- RADHIKA KHANDELWAL

V-B
 REFUSE
• Refuse things you don’t really need
• Refuse one-time-use plastics (grocery bags, water bottles)
• Refuse products with multiple layers of packaging
• Show companies what you value by purchasing carefully
• Organic
• Sustainable packaging
• Sustainable business practices
REDUCE
• Select electronic versions where possible (coupons, newspapers)
• Reduce energy usage
• Reduce purchases of products in non-recycled packaging
• Consider: do I really need this? Will I use this frequently?
• For example, do I really need 3 pairs of sunglasses, or can I get
by with one?
 REUSE

• Select reusable versions of one-time use products (water bottles,

travel mugs, lunch containers)
• Reuse plastic or glass containers that originally contained food or
other products.
• Donate unwanted items to a charity, thrift store, relative for
someone else to use
 REPURPOSE
• Upcycle projects
• Turn old clothes into cleaning rags, patches
• Decorate amazon boxes or empty oatmeal containers to use as
gift packaging
 RECYCLE
• Recycle the usual suspects
• Recycle electronics
• Recycle means creating a new product out of a material that
already served its purpose
 REFUSE FIRST, RECYCLE LAST

• Recycling is great, but it is far better

to not generate the waste in the first
place.