The theme for November is the 5R’s of Zero Waste. I will focus each week on one of the R’s with this week being Refuse.
I can honestly state that Refuse is the trickiest of the Rs for aligns with what we bring into our household. Yes there are actual refusal actions we can perform, but a lot of the refuse phase is mental.
Your having to think
- Do I really need this ________?
- Wonder if I can find this secondhand?
- Do I have something at home that can be repurposed?
- Is there a more sustainable alternative?
And all this happens before you make or consider a purchase. I don’t know about you but that can be a little overwhelming in a society that encourages instant gratification and convenience shopping.
So how does one make it through this tricky aspect? I personally pay attention to my priorities — I want my children/family and future generations to have a planet to reside on. It also helps having the mindset of reducing your waste which means “needs” outweighs “wants”. But it really takes time to get to this mindset and trust me it can be difficult when there are other folks in your household.
How do you handle the mental aspect of Refuse?
Maranda's World 