RVCD Earth Week 2024 – Day 1: The 3 R’s

April 22, 2024

Welcome to Earth Week 2024! In the next five days, we will be posting information for you to keep in mind for this year’s Earth Day. Remember to love our beautiful mother Earth, because we have only one of her!

Today, we’re going to talk about the 3 R’s.

But what are the 3 R’s??

Don’t worry – we’ll turn to a wonderful musician, Jack Johnson, for some answers.

You may recognize the infamous yellow album cover from the Curious George animated movie, which was played on repeat during my childhood. That album is where The 3 R’s song comes from. Furthermore, the picture above is my childhood best friend (left) and I (right) in our elementary school talent show dancing to The 3 R’s song, by Jack Johnson.

In the words of his song, “we’ve got to learn to reduce, reuse, recycle”!

Reduce

Reducing the consumption of goods results in a reduction of waste generated. The best place that you can start is in your own home.

• When cooking, don’t throw food scraps into the trash – instead, consider composting them! Over time, you will have some great fertilizer for your soil and plants. You can add yard waste and other organic matter too!
• Turn off lights in your house during the day, this will conserve energy and help your lights last longer.
• When performing the inevitable spring cleaning, have a yard sale or donate the items you’re getting rid of.

Reuse

When we reuse something instead of throwing it away, we prevent waste. Get creative with this one!

• We all have that overflowing bag of bags in the laundry room, right? If you find yourself overburdened with plastic grocery bags, bring them back with you to the store and reuse them. They can also be used as trash bags at home.
• Instead of buying new clothes that cost a fortune, buy from your local thrift store. This does not apply to just clothing, though! You can buy books, kitchenware, shoes, etc. This is one of the best ways to practice reusing, and you’ll be saving your wallet and the environment!
• If it’s broken, fix it – don’t just throw something away once it starts to malfunction. For example, if your favorite sweater has started to unravel, try patching it up yourself! You never know, you could find a new hobby!

Recycle

Most people are familiar with the term “recycle”, but don’t fully understand what it means. See this video below for a quick explanation.

Now you’re an expert! Remember to read the signs on containers at dump sites – they’ll tell you where everything is supposed to go. Here are the coordinates for the Sheridan dump site.

Now you know more about The 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle! Tune in tomorrow to learn about Dark Sky Week and the impacts of light pollution!