Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
We don’t have to wait until April 22nd to celebrate Earth. Every day, we can reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Plastic is an amazing, lightweight material that can be made into all sorts of things. But when we use plastic items once and then throw them out, we create a huge amount of waste. People create about 2.6 trillion pounds of garbage each year. That’s heavier than 225 million adult elephants. In the United States, we throw away 250 million tons of garbage every year. That’s enough garbage to cover the state of Texas entirely with trash—twice. On average, each person in the United States makes 4.5 pounds of trash each a day.
Each of us can make a difference by using good judgement when we buy and discards things.
- When we reduce, reuse, and recycle, we:
- Save natural resources
- Save space in our landfills
- Save energy
- Reduce pollution
- Save money