Students

We all need to do our part to REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE. Why? We make too much waste, and if we're not careful, we'll make the earth too sick to live on.

Is there anything you can do? You bet there is! You can protect the environment and help save the earth by trying to:

Reduce

• Buy less and use more - Ask your family to buy only what you need and use all of what you buy. Or when you're done using something, ask mom or dad to pass it along to someone else who can make use of it. This is especially important when it comes to things like cleaners and paints, which can poison the earth.  If your family has leftover paint or an almost-empty bottle of cleaner, ask them to take it to the Swap Shop at the Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency.  

• Buy products with minimal packaging - Encourage your family to "buy bulk" (large quantities in minimal packaging)  or select products that are not wasteful in their packaging.

• Use reusable grocery bags - Take cloth, reusuable bags to the store instead of accepting the store's plastic bags.

Reuse

• Take along reusable mugs or travel cups - Use them and wash them instead of throwing away disposables.
• If you do use disposables, reuse them - When you do use disposables like plastic cups, plates, utensils, and plastic food storage bags, don't throw them away! Wash and reuse them.
• Repair or give away large items - Washers, dryers, even bicycles can be expensive to replace and wasteful if the appliance is still in good working condition. Try to find new homes for these items.

 Recycle

• Don't just toss everything in the trash. Lots of things (cans, paper, cardboard) can be remade into either the same kind of product or new products. Making new items from recycled items takes less energy and fewer resources than making products with new materials.

• If your garbage collector won't take something, find someone who will. Retailers like Hy-Vee and Walmart have drop-off recycling. You can always bring your recyclable to the Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency.

• Look for ways to use recycled products. A recycled soda bottle can be made into T-shirts, combs, or other plastic goods. An old coloring book might become one of your school books or a notebook. Old blue jeans might be made into pencils.

 Now isn't that easy? There is so much that YOU can do with very little effort!