Living Green
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
By Bryan Hayes
“Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” All three of these things help the community as well as the environment, and each are important in their own regard. One of these three though often gets the most attention. Recycling is talked about all the time, although reducing and reusing are just as vital.
The concept of reusing became more personal for me last week. It also got me thinking about how often items are not reused. In my case, I went by my former residence where I found that they had discarded all of the plants that were around the outside of the house. Digging up the plants and getting rid of them is, of course, their prerogative. But to me, it would have been nice if they had replanted them elsewhere instead of disposing of them in the garbage.
Plants are easy to transplant, but what about other objects and items that we use every day? How can they be reused? A good example of ingenuity and creativity can be illustrated through the many uses people have found for wooden pallets. The same pallets that are used for transporting goods have been transformed into everything from furniture, to headboards, to even beds themselves, and more.
The most amazing utilization of wood pallets I have seen thus far is using them to build houses. Most are rather small, with one out-of-state idea being to use pallet houses as a cost-effective temporary housing solution for the homeless. If you make use of your favorite search engine, you can even search the internet and find directions on how to build your very own pallet house.
Reusing pallets seems to be a relatively simple concept. Wood is a basic building material. It merely takes some time, effort, and again a little ingenuity to transform the wood into something else and in doing so reinventing its use all together.
Another example locally of someone who is reusing available materials is a condo association that is taking donations of used sheets, blankets and towels from their tenants with those items collected being donated to a local animal shelter. Where there is a will there is a way, as they say. By working together a very cost-effective solution in this case was found to fill a need.
Donating used clothing is always a great thing to do. There are many local groups and organizations who welcome donations. Of course, then again, if you are the youngest child in a large family you may know all too well the idea about reusing clothing. But, then again, that really is the point. Sometimes we do not realize the sacrifices people have to make, in order to simply survive. A young child may not appreciate their parents and the sacrifices they make until that child is much older.
The “hand me down” shirt may not be the latest and greatest, but a shirt is a basic need. Food and clothing are often two basic needs we take for granted, while there are many out there who go without much too often. Donating to others is a way to not only reuse but also reduce. What may be unused in our closet or pantry may be just what someone else needs at the moment.
Since there are such creative individuals with amazing ingenuity, I welcome you to share your own stories with us. I encourage you to submit your own examples, ideas and even photos of fun ways in which you have reused items with the intention being to inspire others through your efforts. You can email me at [email protected] or our editor at [email protected], subject “Living Green Ideas.”
Editor’s Note: You can “like” the Facebook Page “Living Green” or join the Facebook Group “Living Green” too!
Bryan Hayes is an actor, amateur photographer, business consultant and full-time lover
of all things living. To check out more from Bryan Hayes, please visit his blog
at:http://outofthehaze.wordpress.com/