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Remember "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" ? I feel like there's been a distancing from the "reduce" and "reuse" part and a favoritism towards "recycle" by corporate American.

Capitalism can still thrive with recycling in the mix. You buy Plastic Thing 1, throw it away after one use, and they take that and recycle it into Plastic Thing 2 and sell it back to you. All while continuing to harm the environment.

Reusing puts a damper on things. They can't sell you Plastic Thing 2 when you're still using Plastic Thing 1. Plastic forks, for example- there is literally no reason why you can't reuse plastic forks more than once (aside from maybe microplastics, but it's too late for that)

Reducing is the one everyone wants to ignore. Just don't buy Plastic Thing 1. You don't need Plastic Thing 1. Pick up a set of metal forks and use those for years. Convenience is killing the planet

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the slogan is in that order for a reason! It is listed in order of effectiveness and impact; if you can't reduce, reuse. If you can't reuse, recycle.

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Refuse what you don’t need

Reduce what you can

Reuse everything still in working order

Recirculate what you don’t need presently by sharing or selling onward

Refurbish what’s fallen out of good condition so it lasts longer

Repair what’s broken altogether

Repurpose what can’t serve its original function

Recycle what is unsuitable for repurposing

What goes unsaid here is why they’re all “re-“ prefixed: it’s about circularity. Keeping the resources in use means that we don’t have to keep incurring the environmental costs of production over and over on infinite one-way trips of new stuff starting in the earth, through human society, and right back into the earth in landfill.