|
|
|
101 Uses for Dirty Diapers
As the father of a toddler, I am an expert on dirty diapers. I know exactly what to do with them: throw them out! But along comes a New York waste company and a town in California who want me to do something else with my dirty diapers. Like cover...
A Simple Way To Offset the Environmental Effects of Driving Your Car
We all love our cars. They give us the freedom to come and go as we please, to get to work, to visit family and friends, to go shopping...on our own schedule. But automobiles also effect the environment by polluting the air we breathe and, in...
Ecology: 10 Ways To Fortify The Environment For Under $10
America’s beautiful landscape represents the natural brilliance of a nation founded on truth, freedom, and the well-being of all its citizens. As technology progresses, America’s ecosystem suffers the greatest toll. Automobiles, industrial parks,...
RenewableEnergyStocks.com Reports - Oil Prices and Global Warming Issues Fuel Renewable Energy Investments and Initiatives
Report Excerpt: RenewableEnergyStocks.com Reports - Oil Prices
and Environmental Issues Fuel Renewable Energy Investments and
Initiatives
By Brian Noer, www.RenewableEnergyStocks.com November 2005
In North America, issues such as rising...
Tips on being energy efficient
If you realize the monthly bills that you are paying for energy mainly are tremendously high, then you probably are seriously thinking about identifying the most efficient ways that might eventually lead to reducing your costs.
It is generally...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The "Reduce" of Recycle and Reuse
Most of us are familiar with recycle and reusing, but how often
do we think of the third R - REDUCE?
"Reduce" is probably the most important of the three Rs because,
if we reduced, it would limit the need to recycle and reuse. By
reducing, we cut down on the resources that we use which results
in less garbage being produced. Reduce takes us back to the
basic question:
"Is it a need or a want?"
So often, our wants result in impulse buying. It is amazing if
you ask yourself the question, is it a need or a want before you
actually buy. Many things end up being a want, not truly a need.
To help us "reduce", a second question could be asked:
"Can I rent or borrow this item, rather than buying it?"
By renting or borrowing an item, you fill the "need" and
perhaps the "want", but you end up fulfilling your need and
returning the item.
One other area that helps reduction is "packaging". Are the
items you are buying packaged to protect the item, or packaged
to market the item. So much garbage is a result of packaging for
marketing purposes. Buy products that limit the packaging to
protection rather than marketing.
There
are many ways to "reduce" and here are just a few:
- reduce your paper consumption...only print what you need
otherwise read online; use both sides of paper for taking
messages; leave off the cover sheet of a fax and write all info
on the main page
- have your name removed from junk mail.
- reduce the use of plastic bags by taking cloth bags with you
when you shop
- purchase energy saving appliances
- use the new compact fluorescent lights bulbs (take 75% less
power and burn 10 times longer than a regular incandescent bulb)
- when buying toys for children, purchase toys that do not
require batteries
- if you do require batteries, buy rechargeable ones
- buy in bulk, thereby reducing packaging
If we all did only one thing to "reduce", it would help in our
efforts to recycle and reuse.
About the author:
Catherine Pulsifer is one of the authors of Stress Relief by a
Simple Life http://www.stresslesscountry.com Stories,
thoughts, inspirational quotes, and poems on reduce, recycle,
reuse, simplicity, being more frugal, crafts and more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
