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Land and nature stewardship
The permaculture principle 'produce no waste' stands in marked contrast to our throw-away society in which millions of tons of 'rubbish' are simply dumped in huge holes in the ground each year.
This section suggests ways in which this 'rubbish' can be recognised for what it actually is; a highly valuable resource, whether as something that another household could make great use of, as the basic ingredients for an entirely new product or craft item, or as the raw materials for compost or recycling.
Compost is decomposed organic matter and provides nutrients for plant growth, similar to what a artificial fertiliser does.
“Reduce, refuse, re-use, repair and recycle” is a useful hierarchy of strategies for waste minimisation.
Recycling is the processing of used materials into new products usually by using energy inputs to reduce the material to its more basic constituents for the same or another use. e.g. to melt and remould a used glass bottle into a new one.