Historically, the phrase “The 3 Rs” meant Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic. The basis on which all other schoolwork, and life for that matter, was going to be based.In more recent years the 3 Rs became the 4 Rs as awareness and emphasis on recycling, preservation, and conservation grew. Not to say, however that the original basis doesn’t still hold some validity. Reading, writing, and math are still stressed in school systems, as well they should be.
As the 4Rs make their debut in the everyday language of Americans, “they are commonly summarized as... reduction, reuse, recycling and recovery."
