Who has never heard of the famous “three errors” when referring to the environment? O reduce, reuse and recycle they are proposals for attitudes regarding our mode of consumption, which is often unsustainable – or do you think we need all the bags that pack our shopping (if we really need everything we buy) and using the full amount of disposable cups used at parties and even in our work?
However, at least two more errors could be added to these three:
reflect – is it really necessary for me to acquire such a thing? Could it be that if I opted for soap over detergent, wouldn't it harm our rivers less? What if I separate the garbage from my house and send it to collectors or cooperatives? Could it be that if I take this 1kg product, instead of a 500g one, besides paying less, I won't be saving packaging, garbage?
reduce – did you know that most of the waste produced worldwide is organic waste, while people die daily from lack of food? Will you really eat everything you put on your plate? And won't this product you're taking home expire before it's consumed? Is it really necessary to drive to the neighborhood grocery? And those lights on? And the DVD on standby? And the computer turned on while watching TV in the living room?
refuse– is it really necessary to accept plastic bags, always? Even when going to a video store, is it really necessary to carry the video in a bag? And when do you get a medicine? Does it really interest you to buy an apartment right now, to accept having the advertisement delivered to you? Do you really need to accept a pamphlet from that lady who reads hands and “lays up for love”?
reuse – is it necessary to use a different glass each time you drink your soda or your water??? And that paperwork that printed wrong, could not use the other side of the sheet for drafts, notes??? And that outfit that doesn't even fit you anymore, couldn't it be useful to anyone? And the water you used to make vegetables, couldn't it be used to cook rice, even because many nutritional properties are there, in the cooking water?
Trade fairs are a good alternative when it comes to reuse.
recycle – did you see where the recycle is? It is the last alternative of these steps, because this process also generates pollution, since it uses energy, chemical inputs, water, etc., in addition to the fact that the Recycled material has a “life span”: the same paper, for example, can be recycled approximately 8 times, since with each new recycling the cellulose fibers become degrade more.
Our country is the world champion in aluminum can recycling and recycles around 37% of the paper it produces but, unfortunately, this title comes from the terrible living conditions that some Brazilians live, with recycling as source of income.
Sorting the garbage in our homes is even a way of reflecting on how much we consume daily, how much garbage we produce. If we just separate recyclable from non-recyclable materials, taking care not to wrinkle the separated papers and wash the packaging, it will already be a way of help these people and contribute to a better disposal of this remaining waste (remember that recycling should, or at least should, be the last alternative).
I close with a sentence by Leonardo Boff for reflection:
"Consumption is growing and nervous, without knowing how long the finite Earth will withstand this infinite exploitation of its resources."
PS: in the time period used to write this text, 60,753.42 tons of CO were emitted2 in the world.
By Mariana Araguaia
Graduated in Biology
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Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
ARAGUAIA, Mariana. "“Three Errs” and a few more"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/biologia/os-tres-erres-mais-alguns.htm. Accessed on June 28, 2021.