You’ve probably heard of the three R’s of basic skills (reading, writing, and arithmetic), but the three Rs of waste management will be just as important over the next hundred years. Whether or not you believe in global warming, you must believe that using the Earth’s resources longterm at our current rate will certainly spell doom for our societies. To combat the problem of our growing landfills and lesser resources we must look at greener waste management.
So what are the three R’s of waste management? Reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Reduce
Reduce: to bring down to a lower extent. Basically, use less products. Instead of using paper towels, use clothe. Instead of watering your lawn, let it die. Instead of using paper plates, use real ones.
Whatever you use, try to use less of it or completely get rid of it. This includes electricity.
Reuse
Reuse: to use again. Try to find new uses for old products and try to buy recycled. Check out local yard sales before trying to buy new and look for new owners for your old appliances before chucking it in the trash. Also be sure to donate your old clothes and carpets to charities, there is always someone out there in need, even if you think no one will want it, check it out just to be sure.
Recycle
Recycle as much as possible. More and more cities around the world are offering recycling pick-ups, allowing several types of plastics, paper, and metals to be easily recycled. Although this may be more work (and more costly), it is a great way to help out the environment.
On the other hand, many cities have recycling centers which will pay you to recycle your goods–aluminum and paper centers are the most common. You might remember recycling soda cans when you were a child, those same centers are still in operation today. So if nothing else, save your cans and bring them to be recycled every couple months.
Although the three R’s are just one step to becoming green, it is a big one. If everyone followed the three Rs our landfills would be of virtually no use and new methane production would be cut by a huge margin. So remember to reduce, reuse, and recycle before making new purchases or throwing the old into the garbage.
Written: Apr 13, 2009
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