Earth Day: 3 R's (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle)

By Amy Nutt

There was a time when a lot of people would make jokes when they thought about Earth Day. After all, it's a 'holiday' where you don't get the day off and most people don't really bother to celebrate or acknowledge. However, Earth Day is no laughing matter, because there's nothing more important to humanity than our home: earth. In recent years, more people have taken on a 'green' way of thinking and Earth Day is starting to get the attention it deserves.

Earth Day was founded by a United States senator in the year 1970, but it has since grown to be an international holiday celebrated by the United Nations. Earth day is all about promoting awareness of the Earth's environment and how to best preserve it for future generations. It has become clearer to us in recent years that if we don't take action to help protect the environment, then there will be severe consequences.

Earth Day is all about 3 major tenets, known as the 3 R's: reduce, reuse and recycle. Each of these elements is important to ongoing conservation efforts. While Earth Day is a day to promote these ideas, they really should become a part of every person's everyday life if we want to make a real positive change in the environment.

Reduce means that you should try to reduce the amount of waste that you throw out. Trash is becoming a major problem all over the world - we throw out so much stuff that we're running out of room to store it all. Reducing waste is all about being more conscientious about things that we buy and use.

It dies directly in with the second concept, which is reusing. Reusing means taking things we might normally just throw out and finding a new use for them. There are lots of ways to reuse all kinds of items that you might not think twice about throwing in the garbage. You can reuse old milk jugs or soda bottles and use them to store water or other liquids. Or you can turn your food waste into compost for your garden. You can even take would-be trash and do something totally unique and creative with it.

Recycling refers to a way in which you can essentially reuse things, even if not directly. Recycling facilities accept items such as aluminum cans, glass, plastic, paper, cardboard, and other items, and reprocess it to be used again. Many junk removal collectors have separate bins where people can put their recyclable materials to have them collected. Or, you can bring your own recyclables to a local center.

While those 3 basic R's are a great place to start in a conservation effort, there are many other ways that we can help support the health of our Earth. Reduce doesn't have to just mean reducing trash, for example. For instance, you can also try and reduce the amount of energy that use by buying energy efficient appliances or a hybrid car. The conservation options are nearly limitless; you just need to be willing to go the extra mile.

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