About this poster
- Text and layout for an A4 or A3 classroom poster, "The five Rs, in the right order". Print it, or download the scalable vector graphics (SVG) on this site to change the colours and the bin names for your country. It says why recycling is fourth, with the one number that explains it. Made and funded by No Plastic Today. Licence: CC BY 4.0.
Headline
- REFUSE. REDUCE. REUSE. RECYCLE. ROT. In that order.
The ladder (top step is best)
- 1. REFUSE — Don't take it. No straw, no bag, no free plastic toy. The plastic you never use is the only plastic you can be 100% sure about.
- 2. REDUCE — Take less. One big pack instead of ten small ones. Loose fruit instead of a tray.
- 3. REUSE — Use it again and again. Refill bottle, keep-cup, lunchbox, bag for life (and actually bring it: a bag for life needs at least 4 uses to have a smaller climate impact than a thin bag; a cotton bag needs 131, because growing and making cotton has a big climate cost).
- 4. RECYCLE — For what is left. Empty, rinse, lids on if your council says so, right bin. Good, but not enough on its own.
- 5. ROT — Compost what can rot: food, paper, garden waste. Not plastic labelled "biodegradable" unless your council collects it.
The one number
- Only about 9% of the world's plastic waste was recycled in 2019. Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Global Plastics Outlook, 2022 (oecd.org/en/about/news/press-releases/2022/06/global-plastic-waste-set-to-almost-triple-by-2060.html).
- Bag figures: UK Environment Agency, Life Cycle Assessment of Supermarket Carrier Bags, 2011 (biodeg.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/uk-ea-publishes-lca-of-supermarket-carrier-bags-.pdf).
Footer
- Our class swap this term: ______________________.
- Made by No Plastic Today (noplastictoday.com/). No sponsors. CC BY 4.0: copy it, change it, share it.
Accessibility notes for printing
- Minimum 18 pt body text on A3; colour plus icon plus word for every step (never colour alone); high-contrast palette; the SVG carries alt text for each step.