Before discarding anything as a waste, one should remember the following 5 R’s of environmental protection viz. Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover.
Refuse
Refuse to buy unwanted things, which ultimately result in generation of some or the other kind of waste (either in the form of its packing or not-using the item itself etc.)
Reduce
Try to reduce the waste generation, to as low as reasonably practical
Reuse
Before throwing anything as a waste, try to make optimum usage of it, by way of repeated use
Recycle
Share the unwanted items with others, who are in need of the same
Recover
When any or all of the above options are not workable, try to recover the useful components from such items for use in a new product or recover the possible portion by way of making it as a manure or recover energy by suitable safe methods (ultimate choice).