Most of us have heard the three R's of learning, i.e Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmetic, many many times. There are three more R's that are just as important and that make a huge difference in our communities and on the planet: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. As a practical matter this boils down to a few simple actions: 1) don't buy things you don't need or items that come in wasteful packaging or that cannot be recycled, 2) reuse and repurpose what do you buy - a rule of thumb might be to reuse at least three times; then finally 3) recycle whatever solid and organic waste that you can. Fundamentally this can be summed up in a fourth R - Rethink what you do every day. When shopping, don't let store clerks toss one item into a plastic bag rather carry it out as is or bring your own cloth bag. When you're done with a package see if it can be used to store something else or grow a plant or line a litter box. And when you have cleaned up the kitchen or cleaned out the closet see what you can recycle back to the supermarket, or in municipal recycling or in a compost pile or at a thrift shop. The three R's of the environment start with one: Rethink then rethink again.
Wise words!
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