Waste Reduction Methods
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Reduce/rɪˈdjuːs/ | Carry one refillable bottle, so you never buy a single-use one — zero waste. |
| Reuse/riːˈjuːz/ | If you do have a bottle, refill it many times before letting it go. |
| Recycle/rɪˈsaɪkl/ | Only when it's finally worn out, send it to be melted into new plastic. |
| Composting/ˈkɒmpɒstɪŋ/ | Composting |
The best waste is no waste
- Disposing of waste always causes harm — landfills, smoke, ash.
- So the smartest move is to make less waste.
- Three simple ideas guide this: reduce, reuse, recycle.
- They are known as the three Rs.
Reduce: the most powerful R
- Reduce 减少 means using less in the first place.
- Buy only what you need; skip extra packaging.
- Waste you never create needs no handling at all.
- This is the best R because it prevents waste entirely.
The waste hierarchy: reduce first, landfill last
Which of the three Rs prevents the most waste?
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Reduce is best — waste you never make needs no handling at all.
Reuse: use it again
- Reuse 重复利用 means using the same item more than once.
- Refill a bottle instead of buying a new one.
- Donate old clothes and furniture so others use them.
- No processing needed — just keep the item in use.
Reduce, reuse, or recycle?
Sort each action into the "R" it belongs to.
To recycle something means to…
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To recycle is to break an item down and remake it into a new product — cans become new metal.
Letting food and garden scraps rot into soil is called ____.
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Composting turns organic waste into rich soil, keeping it out of landfills.
Recycle and compost
- Recycle 回收 means processing waste into new material.
- Old cans become new metal; old paper becomes new paper.
- Composting 堆肥 turns food scraps into rich soil.
- These take energy, so they rank below reduce and reuse.
Recycling is better than reducing or reusing because it handles the most waste.
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False. The waste hierarchy puts reduce first, then reuse, then recycle: each earlier step prevents waste before it is created and uses less energy.
Select all ways to cut down on waste.
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Reduce, reuse, and recycle all cut waste. Tossing everything is the opposite.
The three Rs are a ranked list, not three equal choices. Reduce beats reuse beats recycle, because each earlier step prevents waste sooner and uses less energy. Recycling is good, but it still takes energy to collect, melt, and remake materials — so "just recycle it" is the weakest of the three. Making less in the first place always wins.
A water bottle, three ways:
- Reduce: carry one refillable bottle, so you never buy a single-use one — zero waste.
- Reuse: if you do have a bottle, refill it many times before letting it go.
- Recycle: only when it's finally worn out, send it to be melted into new plastic.
- Same bottle, but the order — reduce, then reuse, then recycle — is what saves the most.
The three Rs cut waste in ranked order: reduce (use less — the most powerful), reuse (use the same item again), then recycle (process into new material). Composting turns food scraps into soil. Each earlier step prevents more waste and uses less energy, so "make less" always beats "recycle it".