The waste hierarchy is a classification of waste management. The waste we create have to be carefully managed to minimize its effects on our personal health and the health of our planet. Here is a quick review of the 5R’s of managing waste, inciting simple steps you can take: 

1. Reuse: Reusing means getting the most out of things in their original form before you toss or recycle them. Reusing is a pretty simple once you get into the habit, like Waiting a shopping list or an opened envelope or the back of office paper rather than on a brand new sheet. Plastic bags can be reused several times before they are recycled. 

2. Recycle: Recycling is the ‘R’ that has caught on the best. However recycling is not as easy as one would like or even available in some Montana location. Recycling, like using cans to make new cans, is better than throwing them into the landfill, but it still takes energy to collect, crush and remake them. 

3. Reject: Rejecting is the one of the newer. Some people also call it precycling. In terms of smart waste management, this is the simple act of rejecting excessive or unnecessary packaging. You can reject—choose to not buy— foods, beverages, or other products in fancy, multilayer packaging that you will just have to throw into the trash as soon as you open them. 

4. Respond/React/Reward: This R goes by several different names, but still they ail come down to one thing: letting manufacturers and businesses know what you think about their waste management. Using the grocery bag example, you would thank your grocery store manager for selling inexpensive cloth bags and/or providing a way to recycle plastic bags. 

5. Reduce: Reducing means producing less waste so that you throw away less trash and garbage into landfills. It is the most effective way to manage waste. For example, bring your own bags, cloth or mesh bags, so you don’t take either paper or plastic.