Page 4 - 2. Lesson Notes - Ganga Action Plan 5Rs

We can reduce the pressure on the environment by following 3R’s- Reduce, Recycle
and Reuse.

1. Refuse: This means to say No to things when people offer you that you don’t need.
We should refuse to buy products that can harm us and the environment, say No
to single-use plastic carry bags.
2. Reduce: This means that you use less. You save electricity by switching off
unnecessary lights and fans. You save water by repairing leaky taps. Do not
waste food.
3. Reuse: It is even better than recycling because the process of recycling uses some
energy. In the ‘reuse’ strategy, you simply use things again and again. Instead of
throwing away used envelopes, you can reverse it and use it again. The plastic
bottles in which you buy various food-items like jam or pickle can be used for
storing things in the kitchen.
4. Repurpose: This means when a product can no more be used for the original
purpose, think carefully and use it for some other useful purpose. For example,
cracked crockery, or cups with broken handles can be used to grow small plants
and as feeding vessels for birds.
5. Recycle: This means that you collect plastic, paper, glass and metal items and
recycle these materials to make required things instead of synthesising or
extracting fresh plastic, paper, glass or metal. In order to recycle, we first need to
segregate our wastes so that the material that can be recycled is not dumped
along with other wastes.

Management of Natural Resources:
 A system of controlling the use of natural resources in such a way, as to avoid their
wastage and to use them in the most effective way is called management of natural
resources.
 Why do we Need to Manage Our Natural Resources: We need to manage our
natural resources because of the following reasons:

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