Precycling - Keeping Waste Outputs Low

Purchasing power is Power. A few weeks ago I was formally introduced to this concept of PRECYCLING by Ebony Mommy. In other words, thinking about our choices (food, shopping, travel, etc) before using them. Deciding what we will do and use so as NOT to create any waste, not even recyclable waste.

In today’s disposable-get-it-quick-and-easy-to-replace-for-cheap shopping environment a lot has been taken for granted. Our fore parents (who lived more rurally and closer to the land) were precyclers and recyclers. Nothing was wasted and everything was used. For one it was a matter of affordability. It was cheaper to keep something in working order and replace parts than get something new. Two it was a matter of convenience and sometimes safety. Accumulating trash near your living space was unhealthy and unsafe. But low, plastics and cheap electronics have been sent to make the world a better more enjoyable place. But with also went our great sense of conservation and frugality.

Now, we are faced with having to be more conservative. No where is this important than in our shopping decisions. And along with the option of paper or plastic grocery bags – or better yet, bring your own re-usable bag, now literature publishers are asking the same thing. Would you like that book in paper or plastic? And even for those of us who struggle to be environmentally conscious, it is hard to make the best decisions. My final word to you is to keep trying – keep being conservative, do everything you can to not waste anything – time, paper, water, energy, food – precycle if you can, and recycle everything you can.