In an article I found on Treehugger.com, these simple steps are just one recommendation on a list of their top ten easiest ways to go green. In the article reducing, reusing and recycling our resources are number six on the list, today I am asking you to make them number one on yours. This is what the article has to say about reducing, reusing and recycling.
Nature Recycles Everything. So Should People. Making proper use of the blue recycling bin has become an iconic action. Reducing the amount of stuff we consume is the first step (and the first word in the mantra reduce-reuse-recycle), finding constructive uses for "waste" materials is the second. Why? Nothing is ever really thrown "away" -- it all has to go somewhere. By recycling and reusing, we reduce the amount of waste that sits in landfills (where even biodegradable products often can?t break due to lack or oxygen and sunlight). Recycling materials also saves energy compared to using virgin materials to create new products. Some materials, like aluminum and glass, can even be recycled without being "downcycled," or turned into a product of lesser quality.
After reading the article I felt that this was one of the easiest steps to take. Although recycling will be easy for me, finding a way to reduce and reuse my resources will be a challenge for me. I vow to make this my mission this week, and I hope that you will do the same.
Thank you for your post!! I totally agree that most people in this country take the things we have for granted. I like the way you emphasize that other people in the world aren't quite so lucky as we are, that they have to worry about such basic things as food and water. The only thing I noticed about your post that I might have done differently is that, talking about the benefits of recycling limited resources, I wouldn't mention food and water, just because you can't really recycle those things once they've been consumed. Instead I would focus on how wasteful we are with all our landfills and the giant Pacific Garbage Patch that we've created- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch and what we can do to correct these problems.
ReplyDeleteI think that you'll have a very effective and convincing blog if you focus on issues like non-renewable resources (bravo recycling), animal habitat, the atmosphere, and other subjects that have anything to do with non-human concerns. After all, why are we going green in the first place? The Earth doesn't need us. We need the Earth. Let's stop destroying it.
You're absolutely right John! I love your enthusiasm, and thanks for the advice. I did feel after I posted this that I left out the "why" aspect... and after thinking about it I have decided that I will try to follow a pattern. I will choose a "theme" each week and my first post on that theme will be a "call to action", followed by a "why" post with a few (I have a limited amount of space) reasons why one should take the action, and finally a post talking about what I have learned from doing it myself, and maybe even a few more reasons why it should be done. I started out thinking that the blog would just be about what I am doing to go green, but what I really want this to be is a motivational tool to get more people to join me in this cause. I think the best way to do that is take the time out to discuss why it needs to be done and what kind of benefits our individual efforts can produce.
ReplyDeleteThanks for following me and your suggestions are always welcome!