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What is 3R

3R is an effective method to address the growing issue of waste management and will give good results if practiced appropriately. The principle is to minimize the generation of waste by reducing waste and reusing and recycling resources and products.

Reduce!      Reuse!       Recycle!

Why we should practice 3R?

• To save earth’s natural resources
• To save energy
• To reduce pollution
• To save space on earth for our future generations
• To make the world a better place to live in

REDUCE  

CONSERVATION is the key to waste reduction!Practice reduction at home by opting for environmentally friendly products.

• Buy items in bulk and with little or no packaging
• Buy refillable containers instead of disposable ones
• e.g. Tomato sauce, Dettol refill pack, glass aerated water bottles (ginger beer, soda, coca cola etc), cordials/juices
• Think again if you plan to use disposable plates, cups and/or cutlery, buy a cheap set of unbreakable, easy-to-wash ones instead
•   Use cloth napkins and serviettes instead of tissue
• Take your own grocery basket/cloth bag with you and don’t be afraid to say NO to plastic bags and takeaway containers
• Buy items in glass bottles instead of plastic containers (as is done for milk)
• Opt for recyclable packaging in products and avoid over-packed items
• e.g. Styrofoam packaging, food-wrap packing for vegetables
• Appreciate polythene free advertisement and propaganda campaigns
• Do not accept unwanted hand bills or any other advertising materials unless otherwise you are really interested 

• Buy on a ‘NEED’ basis and avoid excess / unwanted items at home!Make your contribution TODAY! Help reduce waste! Become a Considerate Consumer!

• Save water - take showers instead of baths, don’t leave water running when cleaning your teeth, fix dripping taps
• Save energy - replace at least your heavy use light bulbs with Compact Fluorescent (CFL), switch off unnecessary lights at home, iron your cloths for the week at once, unplug electrical appliances when not being used
• Carpool, ride a bicycle or take public transportation
• Drive a smaller, more energy-efficient car & use lead-free petrol
• 
  

Take the message to your office too!

• Use both sides of copy paper
• Avoid taking printouts unless very necessary
• Print only the required pages not the documents in whole
  
• Switch off lights, fans and AC’s when a room is not being used
• Switch off your computer when not in use for a long time

REUSE

Think twice before you throw! Unsorted WASTE is a RESOURCE! Simple practices can go a long way in reducing the waste you generate.

• Re-use plastic and polythene bags
• Use empty food containers again and again
• Donate old clothes, toys, books furniture etc. to the needy
• Do not throw away things that are still usable, pass on to others who can use them. “One man’s waste is another man’s treasure.”
• Carry your lunch in reusable containers - avoid lunch packets with polythene sheets
• Use empty plastic water or soft drink bottles as drink bottle for school and office
• Rent or borrow items you don’t use very often
• Use refillable pens instead of disposable
• Use rechargeable batteries and refillable print cartridge
• Find creative way to reuse your waste before throwing it into the bin

Use things AGAIN and AGAIN… and cutback what you send to landfills

RECYCLE

Recycling is saving items that cannot be reused but their material can be used again to produce either the same product or new products.In simple, Recycling means turning something old into something new!

Just about anything in your home (or office or school etc.) that cannot be reused CAN be recycled into something else. Set up a system of separating your waste for recycling and minimize what you give your garbage truck. Separation can be done at two levels.

Separating waste according to types at the origin itself  (source seperation) or separating waste according to types before final processing or dumping (site seperation)

Practice source separation as much as possible.  It will give more opportunities and more efficient ways of reusing and recycling.

• If you happen to take lunch packet put biodegradable items and non biodegradable items in separate bins
• Wash any polythene sheets while you washing your hand
• Do not let the non biodegradable items be contaminated by biodegradable items
• Direct old books and papers for recycling before they become unusable for recycling

Some simple guidelines on how you can separate and store your recyclable waste.

Paper

• Old Newspapers - tie into bundles
• Beverage cartons 

FLIP: open the top side flaps of the carton
FLAP: open the bottom flaps
FLAT: flatten it

• Aluminium can - empty contents, rinse, dry and crush
• Metal containers - empty contents and clean Glass
• Bottles - empty contents and clean
• Broken Glass – store in plastic containers

Plastic

• Drinking bottle - remove cap, empty bottle, rinse and crush
• Plastic containers - empty contents and clean
  
• Organic (food scrap) - pour into compost heap in your garden to be turned into fertilizer

• Deposit them off at your nearest Recycling Kiosk / Sampath Piyasa
• Give them to your regular ‘Botal Paththara Man’ and earn some money
• Call your local authority and request they send the ‘separated waste collection truck’ to your area

Remember, recycling is a great way to conserve resources - but even better is not to create the waste in the first place.

3R initiative

 LIRNEasia is a research and capacity building organization committed to improving the lives of people in Asia through the use of information and communication technologies. The 3R initiative is an attempt to lend LIRNEasia’s expertise to close the gaps in information related to 3R issues.

Partner Organizations

Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association joined us taking the 3R message to schools and from schools to the community.

The Federation of Sri Lanka Local Government Authorities is with us as the representative of all the Local Government Authorities

  The Environment Programme of  Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies, Sri Lanka joined us to bring  the 3R concept to the general public.