The 3Rs of Plastic Recycling Needs to Add a Fourth R

A sad change is upon us.

27 years ago when I started shopping with a wellness manufacturer, one of the big pluses for me was that I was getting less expensive, concentrated non-toxic products in recyclable (not the norm then) containers. This helped me to conveniently do my part in taking care of this God created gift of Earth by not contributing to adding toxins to the waterways or plastic in the landfills.

Seeing this sad message, on my county’s waste management site last week, helped me remember what my online store said recently:

“For years, many have faithfully practiced the three Rs of reducing, reusing, and recycling plastic. But for many reasons, these are becoming more difficult to do. For example, there is less and less demand for recyclable materials…(that is the problem with my county’s change). It’s time for manufacturers to step up and take this burden off the consumer.”

And that is what they are doing. Not only are they leading the way in product concentration, but they are also now taking responsibility for a fourth R – redesign, believing that product redesign is the only viable path to significantly reducing plastic.

My laundry products were recently redesigned to be 9x’s concentrated (versus the previous six and the previous four). That saves an additional 50% on virgin plastic.

And that little light bottle helps me use less plastic, less fuel, and reduce emissions.

I encourage you to shop for the same.

Choices Matter!