By By Patricia Bianca S. Taculao
The 3R mantra, which stands for Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, is considered to be helpful in the journey to lessening the amount of food waste that people send to garbage dumps or landfills. This is the reason why Annie Pascual Guerrero mentioned this in her book called “An A-Z Guide for a Green Chef.”
Guerrero aims to both inspire and encourage healthy food enthusiasts to eat a well-balanced meal without producing too much waste out of it.
In the previous articles, both reducing and reusing in the home were discussed. The third and final process in the 3R mantra is to recycle which is the practice of repurposing items that can otherwise be discarded or considered as a waste.
Recycling Materials
The process of recycling has been well-known in different industries in the community because the method is both practical and environment-friendly. It has even become a major industry on its own through the recycled materials that now take the place of virgin materials in manufacturing.
Using recycled materials in manufacturing also conserves raw materials as well as reduces energy consumption.
Some materials that can be recycled, or even sold to junk shops for a small sum, are glass, metals, papers, and plastic.
How Recycling Came to Be
Recycling cans and bottles began decades ago by using these items as container deposits. Before aluminum cans became popular, people collected glass bottles then returned them to stores trade them for a refund. The glass bottles would then be washed and reused for marketing purposes.
There are a lot of items in circulation that are made from recycled materials. This helps in lessening the amount of waste that can pile up in garbage dumps. By carefully following the 3Rs, overflowing waste won’t be a problem for present and future generations.
(Source: Annie Pascual-Guerrero, An A-Z Guide for a Green Chef, Culinary Foundation, Inc., Quezon City, Philippines, 2012)
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