Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

Finally, there is more and more awareness being raised about saving the planet! It’s about time! Let’s do our part and leave a future for our children and their children and their children… There is no Plan(et) B! Many people don’t look beyond their own little world at the big picture. If you throw something in the garbage and the garbage truck picks it up and takes it away, the garbage is out of your sight. Out of sight, out of mind… But the garbage doesn’t just disappear. It ends up on a land fill far away from you or it is being exported to a different country. But the garbage is still there. A lot (!) of the garbage ends up in our oceans or on beaches. It harms all kinds of animals and it gets into our food chain. Animals accidentally eat garbage; we eat the animals… garbage ends up in water and soil as micro pieces; the food we grow absorbs those particles… in a sense, we eat our own garbage. Think about that next time you throw something out of your car window or on the sidewalk or even in the trash. We all can do our part, every single one of us. And it is not hard at all, in fact, saving the planet will simplify your life, make you healthier and save you MONEY! Yes! HEALTHIER AND SAVE YOU MONEY! How? Well, here are some ideas:

Reduce:

·         Buy less packaged food, eat more unpackaged foods like fruits and vegetables

·         Don’t use (or at least limit the use of) the plastic bags provided for produce in stores (apples, bell peppers etc. can be put loosely into your shopping cart, you’ll have/get a bag at the cashier checkout anyways)

·         Buy less things, less products (less make up, less clothes, less toys… just less stuff! Almost everything you buy comes in a wrapper or package or tubes and plastic containers… and all that ends up in the trash… ends up in our environment and food chain.)

·         Use real coffee mugs instead of styrofoam/paper cups, real dishes instead of paper plates/paper bowls, real silverware instead of plastic forks/knives/spoons… every day at home AND at work! Imagine how much garbage and money you can save by re-using everyday items like that!

·         Use less paper towels, use real towels instead (for drying hands, dishes, cleaning…)

·         Use re-usable Keurig cups instead of the disposable plastic ones

·         Bring re-usable shopping bags to the stores

·         Shop at farmers markets (fresher food and less packing materials)

·         Get a water filter and reduce consumption of plastic bottles or get one of those water filters that you screw directly onto your faucet.

·         take quicker showers

·         put a stop-flush system in your toilet so you can regulate how much water drains down per flush

·         when washing your hands turn the water off while applying soap to your hands, then turn it on to rinse quickly

·         wash clothes less often (unless they are stained or smell bad, you can wear shirts and pants more than once)

·         run the dishwasher only when it is actually full

·         wash your car less often

·         don’t leave the water running when you’re not using it (e.g. while brushing your teeth, cleaning…)

·         water is not a toy, don’t play with it and don’t let your kids play with it (or at least reduce the time of playing)

·         analyze your water use and find ways to reduce it (it saves you money!)

·         be conscious every time you use water, remember that there are people in this world that don’t even have enough water to drink! Not even mentioning having enough water to wash themselves or to water their crops yet here in our modernized world I see so many people wasting water every day…

 Reuse:

·         plastic ziploc bags (turn them inside out, wash, let dry, turn inside in, reuse)

·         use re-usable Keurig cups

·         use cloth bags for your shopping instead of plastic bags

·         fix broken items if possible, instead of throwing in the trash

·         use re-usable bottles for your water and beverages

·         donate items (clothes, shoes, toys, games, household items etc.) to organizations such as Salvation Army or shelters instead of throwing them in the garbage or pass them on to friends or neighbors

Recycle:

·         recycle paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, metal cans!

Also, remember that your trash ends up in our environment where animals are exposed to it. Therefore, cut “loops” before throwing in the trash so items don’t end up on animals’ necks or beaks