How to help

How critical thinking leads to action

We should critically rethink our consumption of energy, resources, material goods and even how we travel:

Reduce – Can I use less of it? (E.g. a pea-sized amount of toothpaste is more than enough; turn off lights when you leave a room)

Reuse – Can I make it useful in another way? (E.g. old shirts are perfect as cleaning rags; a takeaway container can be washed and reused for leftovers another day)

Repair – Can I make it last longer? (E.g. a broken wheel on an office chair costs 5€ to fix)

Rebuild – Can I take it apart and make it work again? (E.g. buy a rusty old bicycle and replace worn parts)

Refurbish – Can I make it better and prolong its useful life? (E.g. take an old laptop and give it a memory upgrade)

Refinish – Can I give it a second lease of life? (E.g. find an old lamp, paint it and replace the old cable)

Recycle – Can I avoid it going to waste? (E.g. my old leather jacket could still keep someone warm)

Refuse – Do I actually need it? (E.g. a plastic bag in a supermarket or an overseas flight)

Rubbish – Is this really the end? (E.g. my old shoes now have holes in them, and water and dirt gets in)