Repeat After Me

There are three basic tenants of the Green Movement... Recycle, Reuse and Reduce. Everyone should memorize and repeat them in your head like a kind of environmental mantra.

Of course, the Recycling part of the equation is the one that people are the most familar with since programs have been around for over twenty years. And it goes without saying that at this point, recycling really should be a routine part of life, just like brushing your teeth and throwing out the (greatly reduced since you're recycling) garbage. The other two aspects of the Green Movement are a little less well known.

"Reuse" is actually a pretty simple concept. It's basically all about increasing the life of an object. Rather than buying new, the goal of "reuse" is to maintain and repair what you have. Here's a disturbing statistic to ponder. Only 2% of clothes thrown away every year are actually worn out. The other 98%? Tossed because we're tired of them or want something newer. "Reuse" is about purchasing durable goods, buying & selling in the used marketplace, borrowing, renting and maintaining/repairing products we already own. And the best part is that when we do these things we help to reduce the strain on valuable resources such as fuel, forests and water supplies. We create less air and water pollution and promote waste production. Admittedly, none of that sounds sexy, but, trust me, it is when it comes to doing our part.

Which brings us to the third part of the Green equation.

"Reduce" refers to lessening that thing known as our carbon footprint. Specifically it can mean reducing the gas we require by doing things like checking tire pressure in our cars, carpooling, walking or riding a bicycle to the store. We can reduce our utilities by turning down the water heater, shutting off the water when we brush our teeth, using a powerstrip, unplugging electronics when they're not in use and gradually replacing our lightbulbs with compact fluorescent lightbulbs. Most of these things sound minor, but it all adds up.

So here's your first green challenge. Pick one of the tenants... Recycle, Reuse, Reduce... and begin applying it to your life. It's okay to start with something small. For example, instead of throwing away your Ziploc sandwich bags when you brownbag it to work, wash them out and reuse them. Or pull that bike out of the garage and take it for a spin the next time you have some errands to run. Let me know what you pick and how you're doing.