“Reduce, Re-use, Recycle” is the mantra of the environmental movement. Tree huggers and aging hippies are said to chant this as they float through life, presumably eating tofu, riding bicycles, and wearing clothes made of bamboo. Actually, we should all raise the strain. We are the temporary occupants and, therefore, the stewards of the Earth.
“Recycle” gets a lot of publicity, because it is the easiest to do. It does not require much extra effort to separate aluminum cans and plastics into separate sacks and keep a box for junk mail, newspapers, and cardboard. Of course, recycling can be taken much farther than this, but let’s keep it simple. The schools, universities, churches, and businesses in our community should be encouraged to engage in this type of basic recycling program. If education is the agent of change, children and adults can be taught by example about the importance of recycling to the health of the Earth.
“Re-use” is also fairly easy. I am sometimes teased by my friends because I keep butter tubs so I can store leftovers in them. Apparently, there are people who do not do that. In fact, I am told that some foolish people throw their leftovers away. I could never be accused of that. I will admit that sometimes a tasty scrap becomes a green, fur-bearing object in the back of the refrigerator.
I blame my mother for little quirks like that. She washed and saved aluminum foil for future use. My sister and I thought she was nuts, but obviously, she was a pioneer in the environmental movement. We also passed clothes down through the family until they were usable only as rags. I was always happy that as the oldest girl I was at the top of this chain.
In any case, there are many ways to re-use. Clean out bookshelves and donate discarded books to the public library or the local hospital. Share magazines with friends. Take outgrown clothes to Goodwill or Salvation Army. Print on both sides of office paper. Use this newspaper and a big bow to wrap a present. I could go on and on, but I am sure you can think of many other ways.
“Reduce” is the difficult part of the mantra. As a society which has embraced conspicuous consumption in every part of our lives, we do not want to reduce anything. We like big cars, big houses, big televisions, big everything. To our way of thinking--more, newer, faster, bigger is always better. Is it? Should it be? Can we change our perceptions? Can we modify our lifestyles without downgrading the quality of our lives? I believe that we can and we must. The future of our grandchildren depends on it.
I am out of space, so I will have more to say about this in another column. I guess I should have reduced.
“Recycle” gets a lot of publicity, because it is the easiest to do. It does not require much extra effort to separate aluminum cans and plastics into separate sacks and keep a box for junk mail, newspapers, and cardboard. Of course, recycling can be taken much farther than this, but let’s keep it simple. The schools, universities, churches, and businesses in our community should be encouraged to engage in this type of basic recycling program. If education is the agent of change, children and adults can be taught by example about the importance of recycling to the health of the Earth.
“Re-use” is also fairly easy. I am sometimes teased by my friends because I keep butter tubs so I can store leftovers in them. Apparently, there are people who do not do that. In fact, I am told that some foolish people throw their leftovers away. I could never be accused of that. I will admit that sometimes a tasty scrap becomes a green, fur-bearing object in the back of the refrigerator.
I blame my mother for little quirks like that. She washed and saved aluminum foil for future use. My sister and I thought she was nuts, but obviously, she was a pioneer in the environmental movement. We also passed clothes down through the family until they were usable only as rags. I was always happy that as the oldest girl I was at the top of this chain.
In any case, there are many ways to re-use. Clean out bookshelves and donate discarded books to the public library or the local hospital. Share magazines with friends. Take outgrown clothes to Goodwill or Salvation Army. Print on both sides of office paper. Use this newspaper and a big bow to wrap a present. I could go on and on, but I am sure you can think of many other ways.
“Reduce” is the difficult part of the mantra. As a society which has embraced conspicuous consumption in every part of our lives, we do not want to reduce anything. We like big cars, big houses, big televisions, big everything. To our way of thinking--more, newer, faster, bigger is always better. Is it? Should it be? Can we change our perceptions? Can we modify our lifestyles without downgrading the quality of our lives? I believe that we can and we must. The future of our grandchildren depends on it.
I am out of space, so I will have more to say about this in another column. I guess I should have reduced.
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