Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!

“A recent government survey showed that at least 36 states are anticipating local, regional, or statewide water shortages by 2013” (EPA, 2008).  I don’t know what everyone else’s views on recycling are, but I am very passionate about the subject.  There are so many easy and simple things that people can do to make our world a better and safer place to live.  For example:

• When you go to the grocery store, don’t use plastic bags.  Either use a paper bag or take one with you that is recyclable. 
  
• The average bathroom faucet flows at a rate of two gallons per minute. “Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth in the morning and at bedtime can save up to 8 gallons of water per day, which equals 240 gallons a month” (EPA, 2008).
  
• Use fluorescent light bulbs.  “They produce the same amount of light, use one third of the electricity, and last up to ten times as long” (Worldwatch Institute, 2007).  Also, “if every household replaced its most often-used incandescent light bulbs with these energy-efficient bulbs, electricity use for lighting could be cut in half” (Worldwatch Institute, 2007).
  
• Recycle paper!  “Recycling paper instead of making it from new material generates 74 percent less air pollution and uses 50 percent less water” (EPA, 2008).
• Recycle your aluminum cans.  We save enough energy by recycling one aluminum can to run a TV set for three hours.
• Don’t just throw your glass bottles away because they can be recycled too.  If all the glass bottles and jars collected through recycling in the U.S. in 94 were laid end to end, they'd reach the moon and half way back to earth.
  

These are little things each of us can do everyday.  For more facts and easy ways to live green, please visit http://www.eponline.com/articles/58167/.