When you toss out trash, you are really throwing away precious natural resources.
But when you recycle glass, paper, aluminum and plastic, you are helping to save space in landfills. You are also helping to prevent water pollution.
Pam, Lico, and their friends hope you will follow their example and spend just three minutes a day living by the three R's: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.
With a little more effort, you can add two other R's to your life.
Read on.
Caretaker's Checklist
- Reduce: Keep a shopping bag in your vehicle to carry your purchases. Use china mugs, cloth napkins, and plastic refrigerator dishes instead of disposable paper goods and plastic wraps. Buy in bulk, and look for products in refillable containers.
- Reuse: Donate used clothing, furniture and appliances to charity. Reuse items like paper, plastic utensils, manila envelopes.
- Recycle: Set up a recycling program in your home and office. Carefully follow instructions for separating materials in your community recycling program.
- Reject: Don't buy over-packaged or throwaway products. Choose products in glass or aluminum containers instead of those packaged in non-recyclable materials.
- React: Tell manufacturers when they are guilty of over-packaging. Tell local retailers you want products made from recycled materials. Your purchases of these products will insure futuremarkets for recyclables. Urge local industries to recycle their wastes.
With
a little time and effort, about 80 percent of household waste could be
recycled. Yet the vast quantity of wood and paper currently tossed into
landfills could heat five million homes a year.
