3 R’s-Reduce, ReUse, ReCycle

July 7, 2010

If you think that one person can’t have an impact, think again.  A couple of weeks ago my cousin from Germany came to visit us with his family.  His oldest son has only been studying english for two years and seemed to be fluent.  One way he was taught English was an assignment to find something to memorize.  He chose Jack Johnson’s song the 3 R’s.  He not only learned all the words by heart, but he also did a whole report, in english, about the 3 R’s, with Jack Johnson’s lyrics as the bases, and started a 3R campaign in his school!

What exactly are the 3 R’s?  For those of you who don’t know…here from Sheryl Eisenberg and the Natural Resources Defense Council is the simplest explanation I found…

1. Reduce: Reduce means using fewer resources in the first place.  This is the most effective of the three R’s and the place to begin.  It is also, I think, the hardest because it requires letting go of some very American notions, including: the bigger the better, new trumps old and convenience is next to godliness…Reduce is a comparative word.  It says:cut back from where you are now….
2. Reuse: Before you recycle or dispose of anything, consider whether it has life left in it….Reusing keeps new resources from being used for a while longer, and old resources from entering the waste stream.  It’s important as it is unglamorous.  Think about how you can do more.
3. Recycle: Recycling is the R that has caught on the best.  Partly, this is because there are so many curbside recycling programs today…What keeps it from being a total piece of cake is the rules.  Every municipality has its own, and they are not always as straightforward as they could be.…read more

For those of you who have children, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has a great kid’s page to help teach them these habits.  Wouldn’t it be great if all our kids learned this at home and in school, by our example and through educational investigation?

The point of this whole matter for me is that Jack Johnson, one man who is environmentally minded created a song (see the video below)… And, established the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation, to support environmental, art and music education now and into the future. As part of his 2010 world tour, the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation will offer direct and matching donations to All At Once partner non-profits. Jack Johnson will once again donate 100% of his 2010 tour profits (as he did in 2008)  to charity.  His influence is such that he inspired one child around the world in Munich, Germany to memorize his song, and lead his class in a 3 R campaign.

While we all may not be Jack Johnson, we, each and every one of us, can start practicing the 3 R’s today and teach our children and grandchildren to leave our world a better place then how we found it!

Nature is God made visible. Nature is God known through our senses. When we love and serve nature, we are worshiping the Supreme Being.
~ Amma

Saving our planet is truly a Little Bit of Beauty™!