The interconnectedness and interdependence of everything and everyone on the planet is a core belief of mine. As a result, I believe in treating it all accordingly – - in love. For me, that includes respecting and caring for the environment. And one way I can do that is through reducing, reusing and recycling.
Although caring for the environment is important to me, I'm aware that I don't do all I could. I've implemented some things over the years – - things I've developed into habits. But that's about it. I've kind of allowed myself to get stuck in a rut. It's partly due to busyness. Partly lack of effort. Partly lack of ideas. And partly not wanting to read through the ton of information that's out there on the subject! It seems overwhelming and it's easier to stay with the same-old, same-old. And yet, that doesn't fit with my values.
So, I was happy to discover a group of lenses by Lensmaster, TheGreenerMe. These pages eliminate all of my excuses (busyness, lack of effort, lack of ideas and too much information) because they present multiple, practical ways to reduce, reuse and recycle in an organized, concise way . . . not to mention the fact that they're beautifully done!
They're excellent resources to bookmark and return to over and over again. Just pick one new idea at a time, implement it and then return for more.
I was able to choose something that I can get started on right away. Although I buy recycled paper towel, reducing my paper towel use (or eliminating it completely) is one tip I can implement immediately. As TheGreenerMe writes in 50 Things You Can Reduce, "The first step in going green is to reduce the amount of things that you throw away and consume."
She continues her explanation of going green with 50 Things You Can Reuse. She explains: "Recycling is very important, but even better is reusing. Recycling actually uses energy and transport time and fuel to get the items to where they need to go. If you can reuse an item yourself, that's more energy, time and fuel saved, as well as less emissions produced."
However, recycling is much better than throwing stuff away and TheGreenerMe also offers creative suggestions in 50 Things You Can Recycle. For instance, did you know that you can recycle your flip flops? It's true!
So, if you're like me and you want to do more, but need a simple way to find and implement ideas, check out this series of lenses. How many of these things do you do already? And what could you put into practice today to care for our world?
Image Credit: Reduce ReUse Recycle 2 by TotallyRandom
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Visit: 50 Things You Can Reduce
I'm a life coach, teacher, direct seller and internet marketer who loves Squidoo and being involved with the Squidoo community. I'm a mom of 4 kids, aged 13, 17, 19 and 21. I'm also a new grandma! I love personal growth, spirituality, nature, elephants, vegetarian eating, writing, reading and learning. But my posts may or may not be about these topics. Primarily, I like to highlight great-quality lenses that make me think or that present meaningful ideas.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by MiMi and Drifter0658, Leanne Chesser. Leanne Chesser said: New post: Reduce, Reuse &% (http://blog.growwear.com/reduce-reuse-recycle/) #LeanneChess #recycle #recycling #reducing #reusing #squidoo [...]
Leanne, I am not a very good recycler for those very same reasons! And paper towels, what I love about them is that they are, in my mind at least, sterile. I see dish towels and dish cloths as being full of germs, although I use hot water and bleach in hopes of getting the cleanest towels I can get, but I still don't see them as "clean" as paper towels! Are the dish towels "really" clean? Is it more green to use hot water and bleach than it is to use paper towels? Or vice versa? That's my quandary there. …Off to visit TheGreenerMe!
There are so many things we do unconsciously. Habits are hard to break but it can be done, one step at a time. TheGreenerMe is one of the best writers on Squidoo for offering ways to change those habits. Thanks for pointing out these 3 pages, great resources to bookmark.
TheGreenerMe has succeeded in changing my mindset from "I can't accomplish anything. I'm just one measley individual," to "Somehow, someway I have to do Something." Thanks Kim and TheGreenerMe.
Lokackl´s last blog ..Don’t Expect A Graduation Invitation
Thanks so much for featuring my reduce, reuse, and recycle lenses! I did put a lot of work into that trio of lenses, but the eventual outcome I was hoping for was that people could find even just a few small things off of those lists that they could change without much effort. Those small changes seem to work better than sweeping giant ones and you're more likely to stick with them over the long haul. With every tiny change that you can handle, you can always add another one onto your plate.
Kim and Lokackl, thank you for the compliments! I hope it gave you some easy, realistic ideas on reducing, reusing, and recycling things in your own lives.
GrowWear – I don't use bleach whatsoever, but I do use reusable paper towels that I can clean with over and over. It takes a lot of getting used to, but those disposable paper towels were taking up a massive amount of space in my trash bags. Once I switched to reusable ones, trash was alleviated by about 1/3. It's also nice to not have to pick paper towels up at the grocery store anymore.
The soaps I use instead of bleach include some all natural dish soaps. The disinfection-with-bleach process that we've grown accustomed to isn't exactly necessary. Cleaners containing vinegar can naturally disinfect. In addition, the UV rays in sunlight can be one of the best things to kill common household germs on counters. As for the vinegar smell when cleaning, you can add lemon to the mixture. Personally, I use the natural all purpose cleaner spray that I sell, which is made from vinegar and smells like citrus (or peppermint if you prefer).
This lens series has been a huge success for me, I'm glad everyone has enjoyed reading it! The attention has been far greater than I ever imagined. I just published a follow up lens on "50 ways to fight climate change," which may be part of a new series I have in the works.
Thank you Leanne and GrowWear for this special feature, I'm honored! I hadn't seen this blog before, but I'm very impressed by the reviews. Keep up the great work.
-TheGreenerMe