Waste, water & resources
Repair, reuse, food waste, water conservation and resource choices.
Reducing Waste in the United States: Why Recycling Is Only One Step
An explanatory essay showing how prevention, reuse, and recycling address different stages of waste, with U.S. examples and a discussion of recycling’s limits.
Repair, Reuse, or Recycle: How Should Communities Set Priorities?
Communities should prioritize preventing waste, then repairing and reusing products, and finally recycling materials that cannot be kept in use. EPA’s waste hierarchy and examples involving food, recycling infrastructure, and household water show why this order matters—and why recycling still needs investment.
Why Environmental Claims Need a Clear Measure
An evidence-based explanatory essay distinguishes preventing waste, recovering materials, and reducing resource consumption, using U.S. EPA examples in food, recycling, and household water use.
Water Conservation at Home: Why Small Choices Depend on Larger Systems
An explanatory essay showing why household water-saving habits matter, while arguing that durable conservation also depends on efficient fixtures, infrastructure, and local conditions.
Can Consumer Choices Alone Solve America's Waste Problem?
An argument that consumer decisions can reduce waste but cannot solve it without product design, collection infrastructure, and coordinated public action.
Should Schools Do More to Reduce Food Waste?
Schools should measure what is uneaten, prevent avoidable waste through better planning, and manage unavoidable scraps responsibly. A phased policy can make progress while accounting for meal access, student needs, and the costs of implementation.
Why Reusing a Product Can Be Better Than Recycling It
An explanatory essay on why keeping a usable product in service can avoid more material processing than recycling, while recognizing that reuse is not suitable for every product.
Why Clear Recycling Instructions Matter
An evidence-based explanation of how recycling instructions affect contamination, why collection options differ, and how households and recycling systems share responsibility.
Should Communities Make Repair and Reuse Easier?
An evidence-based argument for making repair and reuse more accessible while preserving effective recycling, with attention to practical limits and the distinction between policy principles and demonstrated local outcomes.
Should Water Efficiency Be Part of Housing Affordability Discussions?
An argument that housing affordability should account for water use and the cost of efficient fixtures, while recognizing that savings vary by household, climate, and existing equipment.
Food Waste Is an Environmental and Household Problem
An explanatory essay on how wasted food squanders household resources and contributes to environmental harm, and why prevention should come before recovery and disposal.
Food Donation and Food-Waste Prevention Serve Different Purposes
An explanatory essay distinguishing prevention of surplus from recovery of edible food, and showing how both fit into the environmental management hierarchy.