r/recycling • u/ramakrishnasurathu • 6d ago

What Are Simple Ways We Can Integrate Natural Resources Into Our Daily Lives Without Harmful Waste?

The growing movement to reduce waste highlights not only recycling but also embracing eco-friendly practices that conserve and respect nature. What everyday actions can we take to utilize more natural resources—like water, food, and energy—in an earth-friendly way without leaving behind a significant environmental footprint? Let's brainstorm sustainable, practical solutions!

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u/Cummy_Bears_Galore 6d ago

Composting should be a top thing

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u/fro99er 6d ago

There's enough plastic in all our bodies from balls to brains that if at every level of the IFCS we could reduce if not completely remove exposure to plastics we would be way better off and by extension the environment would slowly begin to improve

IFCS

Individually

Family

Community

Society

Just starting with food and water.

90%+ of food and water products come in, are made in, stored in and sold in plastic.

We need to think long term on the renewable Trifecta in regards to food and water

Metal, Glass, Wood

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u/grammar_fixer_2 4d ago

This is what having a homestead or farm is all about. When I raise meat rabbits, every but if the animal is used. The family gets the meat and much of it becomes dog food. The pelts, the ears, feet, all of it gets dehydrated and my dog loves the organs as well. Anything that isn’t eaten can go to the pigs. Rabbits will eat many of the invasive plants that we have here (like paper mulberry). Rabbits will also eat most vegetable scraps. The waste that they produce goes into the vermicompost or the regular hot compost. That then gets used in the garden, which is used to grow food and fodder. The water that I use for my aquarium comes from the cold water from when I first start my shower. The old water from my aquarium is used in my garden. Old rabbit water gets used in my garden as well. I have drip irrigation setup for the majority of it though. Day old cat water goes to the aquarium. The whole thing works in a cycle and nothing goes to waste. Paper gets shredded and turns to bedding for animals and then gets composted. The issue that I have with vermicomposting was that I could never create enough compost. Before I had rabbits, I just put food scraps into a bin and I could never make more than half a bin in a year. I’ve never really created much to begin with. Everything that is recyclable gets reused or recycled anyhow. I’m not a fan of the upcycled stuff that I see (besides some of the old jeans -> bags stuff that I’ve seen). The kids crafts stuff always looks horrible and it ends up in the trash. You’re welcome to /r/changemyview though.

Where I could probably do better:

  • gray water harvesting (the water from washing hands could be routed to the toilets)

  • compost toilets. I have zero experience with this. It sounds great in theory.

  • I haven’t found an eco-friendly way to deal with cat shit. Wood pellets are an option, but I don’t have a good way to really process it and make something useful with it (like compost). I know that this is theoretically possible, but I’m not sure if it is doable by the average consumer.

  • I wish that my neighbors would give me their vegetable scraps. I have no idea how to even ask people for this.