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

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