What method best describes the process of avoiding waste creation?

Source reduction is the method that best describes the process of avoiding waste creation. This practice focuses on minimizing the amount of waste produced at its origin. By designing products with less material, using processes that require fewer resources, or changing consumption behaviors, source reduction actively prevents waste from being generated in the first place.

This approach is considered the most effective way to manage waste because it reduces the need for waste treatment and disposal while conserving resources and decreasing environmental impacts. In contrast, waste treatment and recycling address waste after it has been created, and containment refers to strategies to manage waste that has already been produced, often focusing on controlling or confining it to prevent contamination or hazards. Therefore, while those methods have their own importance in waste management, they do not prevent waste generation but rather deal with it after it occurs.