Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – in that order!
Many people miss that the goals in the mantra “reduce, reuse, recycle” are in order of priority. Even so, it’s not clear what decisions to make in daily life. With as complex an issue as climate change, the Meta-Problem Method can help us navigate our options.
Complex problems are often vague and have many possible solutions. The Meta-Problem Method may lead you far away from the dilemma that started your quest. That’s because the method forces you to clarify what you really want and what you are willing to give up. It enables you to compare objectively the possible pathways and their trade offs. It prevents you locking into solutions mode too early and then doubling down on solving a low-yield problem that does not serve your goals as well as the alternatives. At the end of this process, you will have a better understanding of your priorities and how to achieve them.
Steps in the Meta-Problem Method
Dilemma
The high-level issue you are trying to address
Reduce the environmental impact of my consumption.
Goal
The changes you want to make to address the dilemma. There are usually many options.
Supporting Goals
- Lower environmental burden.
- Less waste ends up in landfills.
Other goals could include reducing the amount of greenhouse gases released, minimizing personal spending, and minimizing the time spent shopping while still having the things you need.
Problem Space
The set of problems you could chose to solve to advance your goals, plus the constraints that hold you back.
Example problems
- How can I reduce the environmental cost of my consumption? Maybe the problem to solve is “Which of my choices have the largest negative environmental impact?”
- How can I minimize how much waste ends up in landfills? Maybe the problem to solve is “What choices can I make that will lead to one less piece of garbage?”
There are many other potential problems to solve related to reducing the environmental cost of consumption. Each goal has many possible problems we could link to it. Are there other problems linked to these first two goals? Which options come to mind for the other goals?
High-Yield Problems
Sometimes solving one problem helps make progress towards several goals. In this step, we identify these “two-for-the-price-of-one” problems.
Which options will advance more than one goal?
- Reducing the environmental impact of your food choices is one of the biggest opportunities for most people in developed countries, can reduce greenhouse gases, minimize costs, and still allow you to have the things you need in your life. However, food is often seen as a personal choice rather than an environmental one, and it can be hard to assess the impact of your options on the planet.
- Buying second hand whenever possible usually means less waste in landfills, reduces the environmental burden including greenhouse gases, and can minimize personal spending. However, shopping second-hand often takes more time, and may make it harder to buy the things you need or want.
There are many potential solutions that will have varying effects on the set of goals. Which alternatives improve the most important goals? How might the unknown change the right path forward? What other possible solutions are there to address the dilemma?
Problem Selection
Which of the many possible options in the high-yield problem step is the best set to address the dilemma?
- Which solutions make the most sense to fight climate change?
- Which solutions will best address the dilemma?
- Which solutions will deliver the best outcome for the least amount of time, effort and money?
Implement, Learn and Adapt
Check continuously that you are still solving the best problem, as new information emerges.
Observe and learn as you go. As new information reveals itself, check continuously that you’re still solving the right problem.