REDUCE – throw away less by buying only what you need and by buying fewer disposable and

over-packaged products.
1. Use washable dishes instead of paper plates and cups.
2. Use a reusable water bottle instead of single serve water bottles.
3. Bring your own bag to the grocery store.
4. Pack a litterless lunch with only containers that can be recycled or washed.
5. Have furniture, toys and appliances repaired instead of tossing them and getting new ones.

REUSE – use items over and over or give gently used items to others.
1. Reuse containers, bags boxes, tubs, cups, bottles and jars over and over before discarding or
recycling.
2. Pass down outgrown clothing, books and toys to younger brothers and sisters, donate to charity
or have a yard sale.
3. Collect rain water in a rain barrel to use to water the garden.
4. Take “garbage” and make it into something new to use or to play with.
5. Take your food scraps and yard waste and start a compost bin in your back yard.

RECYCLE – as much as you can by collecting recyclable materials to be picked up at the curb or
taken to a drop-off location and made into new products.
1. Collect paper and beverage containers and find the best way to recycle them in your community
so they can be made into recycled paper and new beverage containers.
2. Have your school work with a recycling partner to collect and recycle ink jet cartridges, cell
phones, bottle caps or aluminum tabs.
3. Collect aluminum cans and take to your local metal recycler for redemption.
4. Look for the recycling symbol and buy recycled products like recycled content paper, cards, and
paper towels.
5. Encourage your parents to look for recycling centers that accept things like tires, batteries, motor
oil, paints, and electronics for recycling too.

Why should we bother to reduce, reuse and recycle?

It’s easy – Most localities have curbside pick-up or drop-off locations for your recyclables. Contact
your locality or visit Earth 911 to find out what you can recycle and where, and recycle more or start
today.
It saves natural resources – Plastic is made from petroleum, aluminum from an ore called bauxite, tin
cans from mostly steel, and paper from trees. Recycling these materials means fewer natural
resources need to be mined or harvested. Glass, steel, aluminum and plastic can be recycled over
and over again.
It saves money – Recycling saves fuel and transportation costs and saves on garbage disposal fees.
It saves energy – Recycling just one aluminum can instead of making it from scratch saves enough
energy to run a computer for 3 hours.
It saves landfill space – Our landfills are getting full. Putting only materials that can’t be reused or
recycled in the trash will make landfills last longer. Plastic, aluminum, paper, and other recyclable
materials do us no good trapped in a landfill.
It reduces pollution and protects the environment – Recycling reduces air and water pollution and
mining waste because it uses less energy and causes less damage to land and water than mining
and harvesting.