Monday, January 13, 2014

Reduce Single Use

I've been an avid recycler for years. It just makes intuitive sense and isn't that hard to accomplish. I'm in good company. According to the most recent report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recycling continues to be on the rise, and almost 35% of our trash is recycled. Yay us! (tinge of sarcasm).

This is an area that I actually pride myself in doing really well in, and yet, I am challenging myself to Do Better. How?

  1. Self assess and see where I'm still wasteful, then make changes!
  2. Step up the Reduce and Reuse (since I already recycle as much as I can). Reducing is the highest impact of the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle paradigm - here is a good site explaining that. 
  3. Spread the word and invite others take small and large steps to make a difference. 
That third commitment is the most difficult one because this is a cause that seems so...80's, such a done deal. Aren't we already doing this? Don't we already drag our own reusable bags to the grocery store and carry our own water bottles most of the time? And yet...only 35% of trash is recycled. Turns out there's a lot more to the problem than tote bags and water bottles. 

In order to accomplish this I'm going to do a little research, share it online and in person (more about that later) and work on some challenges and rewards for people to make small changes. My effort begins with...another blog...yeah, whoop-dee-doo. Please support me by checking it out, and if you like what you see, subscribe to my posts. I won't overwhelm you with posts (I'm not that prolific). It's called Reduce Single Use, and the first post is up, see you there!