We apply the 3 R's in our family:Reduce, Reuse & Recycle.

1) Recycle

Many of the things we use every day, like paper bags, soda cans, and milk cartons, are made out of materials that can be recycled. In addition to recycling the things we buy, we help the environment by buying products that contain recycled materials. Many brands of paper towels, garbage bags, greeting cards, and toilet paper, to name a few examples, will tell you on their labels if they are made from recycled materials.

2) Reduce

* We buy products that don't have a lot of packaging. Some products are wrapped in many layers of plastic and paperboard even though they don't need to be. We also look for things that are packed in materials that don't require a lot of energy or resources to produce. Some products will put that information right on their labels.
* Instead of buying something we're not going to use very often, we borrow it from someone we know.
* Cars use up energy and cause pollution. Some ways to reduce the environmental damage caused by cars include carpooling with friends, walking, taking the bus, or riding your bike instead of driving.
* You can reduce waste by using a computer! Many newspapers and magazines are online now. Instead of buying the paper versions, you can find them on the Internet. Also remember that you should print out only what you need. Everything you print that you don't really need is a waste of paper.
* We save energy by turning off lights when we are not using it.
* We save water by turning off the faucet while we are brushing our teeth.

3) Reuse

Instead of throwing things away, we find ways to use them again!

For example:

* We use cloth sacks to the store instead of taking home new plastic bags. Therefore we can use these sacks again and again and be saving some trees!
* Plastic containers and reusable lunch bags are great ways to take your lunch to school without creating waste.
* Coffee cans, shoe boxes, margarine containers, and other types of containers that people throw away are used to store things or become fun arts and crafts projects. Use your imagination!
* We don't throw out clothes, toys, furniture, and other things that we don't want anymore. Somebody else can probably use them. We bring them to a center that collects donations for eg, value village, goodwill, the salvation army, give them to friends, or even have a yard sale from time-to-time.
* Whenever we have parties, we use silverware and dishes instead of disposable plastic utensils and plates.