Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - and Repair!

At one of my Toastmasters meetings, I heard a speech from about the three "R's," no, not the "reading, 'riting and 'rithmatic" from my youth, but "reduce, reuse and recycle," a way of cutting down on pollution, energy consumption and/or landfill waste.  The speaker mentioned a fourth "R," which I can't remember - and when I looked on line, I found variations of the extra "R," the most common being "recovery" and "reclaim."

There were some interesting points in the speech.  Through ads on Craig's list, he sells his empty beer and wine bottles (no screw tops) to home brewers and vintners. He doesn't make a lot of money, but it's a nice reward for recycling. 

Inspired to do my part, I started looking for a small sewing kit to repair some clothing, my choice for the 4th "R."  I started with items of clothing which, well in the interest of being delicate, wouldn't be seen by anyone besides my husband and the ladies at the gym.  I spent $1.25 on the sewing kit, and saved several times that with my first "repair" session.  Maybe my work will improve and I can graduate to sewing buttons on blouses and repairing hems on skirts.

None of us can save the Earth by ourselves, but we can all do little things:

• Meat takes more of resources to produce than other forms of protein.  You don't have to go vegan, but we can all eat less meat.
• Buy a pressure cooker, and use less energy to cook.
• Shop at thrift stores and library book sales.  You might find some real gems.
• Take your spent batteries to community recycling (but be careful how you store them).

Whatever your 4th "R" is, you can help save the Earth - and a little of that other kind of green, money.