Consumerism and the Hierarchy of the Three R's

By Sara Hoffman
Just like the three R's hierarchy (reduce, reuse, recycle), I've always seen a hierarchy in consumerism. When making purchases, the items in question tend fall onto one of three levels: necessary, convenient, or downright extravagant. The majority of things people buy on a regular basis fall into the convenient category - they are the things we don't need, but which improve quality of life.

Razors, the stereotypical hippie would argue (with a display of female armpit hair) are simply part of the convenience factor, right along with take-out containers and pre-cooked dinners. Most of us can agree that jetskis and expensive bottles of wine are extravagant and wasteful purchases, even though they are fun to have. Clean running water, food and good medical care are necessary for life to be sustained. All the items in each of the levels can be made more environmentally-friendly, but will remain either necessary, convenient, or extravagant.

That's why reuse is so powerful! Whether you get your old, broken-down jetski fixed up, pick up vintage fashions at a resale shop, or use that milk jug you're done with to water flowers, you don't have to worry about finding a recycling facility. Between buying something new that's labeled eco-friendly or just reusing what you already have (or can scrounge up), reuse always wins.

That's why certain recycling programs are often more inefficient than individuals simply reusing. Blogger Shiba of Reduce-Reuse-Recycle has an interesting standpoint on the recycling of newspapers:

“Placing recycling bins in train stations may reduce the amount of newspapers being littered, mainly the free London papers, but I don’t think it will reduce the amount of paper being used in total, if anything it will increase it ... A newspaper is one of those products that can be reused numerous amount of times, so why place a bin which is going to encourage commuters to dispose their paper rather than leaving it on the seat for someone else to read? Seeing as we all do pick up newspapers on tubes, trains, trams and busses, I think it’s an unintelligent step to take.”

For more information like this, see RTM's Earth Tones section.

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