R-Gang and The 4Rs - How Communities Can Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover Products

The R-Gang and The 4Rs is a concept that has been developed by the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council (EMRC) Waste Education program with the aim of informing the general community, resident, ratepayers and householders within the 6 local government councils that make up the EMRC of how they can reduce their waste production by making use of the 4R's, which are Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover.

The R-Gang and The 4Rs is a Western Australian waste management community/public awareness educational program and you can find out more region-specific information at the R-Gang website which is www.rgang.org.au.

The R-Gang characters symbolize the Four Principles of Sustainable Waste Management which are Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover.

The EMRC has its own interactive Environmental Education Centre where school and community groups can attend to learn more about good waste management practices free of charge.

A bus tour of the site can also be arranged provided that you organize your own bus and bus-driver to take you on a guided tour which lasts for approximately one hour.

Some of the hands-on activities that are available at the Environmental Education Centre include -

• Checking out the R-Gang 4R mannequin members and identifying the recyclable materials that they are made from
• Creating artwork from various recyclable items
• Sorting out recyclable items from household waste items
• Learning why different types of rubbish goes into different colour-lidded bins and why this is the case
• Learning to shop smart by choosing packaged goods that will have a reduced impact on waste production (eg. Buying 3 Apples compared to buying a 3-pack Puree Apple that comes prepacked with plastic tops and bottoms and outside wrapping that will all be disposed of)
• Identifying Hazardous Household waste products and how to dispose of them safely
• How a Resource Recovery site is able to turn Landfill Gas into electricity
• How Landfill Cells are constructed
• How are Landfill Cells utilised
• Understand why Litter and Littering is bad for the environment

Successful waste management comes about from community members being responsible for their own waste management by knowing what goes in which bin, etc.

If the community does the right thing and practices doing the basic 3R's we will be able to significantly REDUCE the amount of waste that is generated, REUSE whatever waste product/material that is able to be repurposed and only use the yellow-lidded Green Bin for RECYCLABLE items that can then be sorted out and recovered where possible.

It really is not that hard to do and your environment will love you for doing it!

Ask yourself this question ...

How Can You REDUCE The Amount Of Waste Product/Material That You Dispose Of?

Easy by utililizing any or all of these suggestions -

• Reduce the amount of packaging by buying products that have little or no packaging on them
• Use reusable containers that can be washed time and time again
• Take your own shopping bags when you go shopping
• Purchase in bulk
• Purchase items in recyclable packaging such as glass jars

As a consumer if we start requesting products that produce less waste and require less packaging then we just might convince manufacturers and retailers to do the right thing and make changes to the end product.

Ask yourself this question ...

How Can You REUSE The Waste Product/Material Before You Dispose Of It?

Easy by utililizing any or all of these suggestions -

• By choosing to purchase re-useable alternatives in the first place instead of disposable throw-away products such as batteries, nappies, handkerchiefs, etc
• By choosing to refill dink containers
• By re-using refillable recyclable items such as shopping bags, plastic containers, glass jars, etc time and time again
• By renting or hiring items that you will only need to use for a short time instead of buying it and storing it
• Buying second-hand items and clothing
• Donating clothing and household items to Charity Op/Thrift Shops instead of disposing them

If we get used to re-using items before we dispose of them we can save the household money and our environment precious resources and energy.

Ask yourself this question ...

How Can You RECYCLE The Waste Product/Material Before You Dispose Of It?

Easy by utililizing any or all of these suggestions -

• Make sure that you know what can and cannot be recycled before you dispose of items in the yellow-lidded Green Recycle Bin
• Things that can easily be recycled and remade into new products/material include -
• Aluminium Cans
• Steel Cans
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Phone Books
• Cardboard
• Paper
• Glass Jars and Containers
• Plastic Milk Containers/Bottles
• Some Plastics (Check with your Local Council/Recycling Guide)

Recycling simply means turning what would be consider to be a waste product into new reusable products. For example, paper and cardboard can be re-pulped and made into recycled paper. Plastic milk bottles and aluminium cans can be remade into new bottles and cans.

It really is not a big-ask to spend a few minutes sorting out the recyclables from the household waste products ... is it?

This is the final piece of the Sustainable Waste Management puzzle and this is the role that the Landfill/Resource Recovery site employees play in helping us to further manage waste.

Resource Recovery is about managing waste as a resource and it is mainly concerned with the waste products that are left over in rubbish/litter bins once householders and businesses have reduced, re-used and recycled their waste.

Resource Recovery sites can potentially divert up to 90% of waste products from landfill and these facilities are also designed to treat and recover waste materials and/or energy produced from waste products through biological, thermal and/or chemical means.

Products that can be RECOVERED and sourced from a Resource Recovery site include -

• mulch
• compost
• soil conditioner
• fertilizer
• electricity
• heat
• solid fuels
• liquid fuel
• gaseous fuels
• recyclables

Some Resource Recovery facilities receive, store, process, repair, dismantle discarded recyclable products and/or materials for reuse by the public and/or industry.

There are many Environmental, Economic and Social Benefits if everybody learned the basic principles of REDUCING, REUSING and RECYCLING and some of these include -

• Spending less money on waste product disposal
• Creating less litter
• Conserving the valuable resources that we have available to us
• Increased savings in the family household budget
• Creating employment opportunities in all areas of waste management and resource recovery
• Encouraging community involvement

With the community doing their part by making The 3R's part of their everyday routine it is then up to the Landfill Site/Resource Recovery employees to do their part by implementing and investigating ways and means to RECOVER resources from the waste production stream.

Such resource recovery methods that the management and employees can make use of include a variety of mulching, composting and converting waste-to-energy processes.

If we all play our part and work in tandem with one another then we can all expect the outcome of responsible environmentally-friendly waste management for all in the region.

Together we can win the war against unnecessary WASTE!

Check out my Hub Article on Resource Recovery - A Fancy Name For Waste Management written as a result of going on a primary school excursion to a Landfill/Resource Recovery site and having my eyes opened to the machinations of such a place.

I truly appreciate the time that you have spent reading my Hub Article and I hope that you have found it to be beneficial.

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