Remember when the three Rs used to mean “reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic”? Nowadays, the 3 R’s stand for Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. This makes it very easy to remember a very fundamental rule of caring for our environment. Here are 3 tips for this week: –

1. Buying fruits and veggies is a smart move for your health. Wrapping each capsicum and head of broccoli in its own plastic bag? Eh, not so much. Experts estimate it may take as long as 1,000 years for the average plastic bag to break down. Buy fruit and veggies loose or use a net bag. 

2. It may be tempting to toss every juice bottle and peanut butter jar, but you can easily repurpose plastic and glass. Think of them as free containers to plant seeds in, store the rice, nuts, and other bulk goods you stocked up on, or to hoard all the extra pennies you saved by recycling.

3. Toaster not working? Try to fix it (or get someone else to) before running out to purchase a new one. (Repair Workshops are popping up everywhere in our area – next one Sunday 28th August 10am to 12.45 at Warners Bay Theatre) Need a pair of speakers for a party? Borrow the neighbours instead of buying your own. Newer isn’t always better. Using what you already have (or what someone else already has) reduces the number of resources (like water and energy) needed to create and ship new products. Reusing is friendlier to the environment, and your wallet.