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Reviews |
December 14,
2005 | vol. XXXIX | No. 3 |
Letter to
the Editor
Recycling
not only way to conserve
I
want to respond to the article about
recycling in the Oct. 26 issue of
Evergreen. First, I want to say that I
applaud all student efforts to be
responsible stewards of planet Earth,
which includes Greenhill School. Even
the presence of the green barrels is a
reminder that we each can, in fact, do
something to be more environmentally
responsible. Jensen Dansie raises some
valid issues with recycling, and I must
agree that all human activity has the
possibility of negative environmental
impact. Thoughtless consumption followed
by recycling may not, in fact, be
environmentally responsible behavior.
Which brings me to my other point: the
other two sides of the recycling symbol.
There has been much less attention paid
to those component parts of the
stewardship effort. For those of you
who have never seen the complete symbol,
the other two sides represent “REDUCE”
and “REUSE,” and I would suggest that
each of those should precede recycling
in your efforts, with recycling being
the final step in handling products.
There are scores of ways to reduce –
the most obvious being to buy less
stuff. More subtle, but just as
effective, are buying larger quantities
of goods to minimize packaging waste,
not using paper products such as paper
towels or paper napkins on a daily basis
and using cloth bags when shopping.
Reuse is significant, too. Many people
are constantly seen with water bottles;
these can be refilled and reused without
limit, and many of our household items
can find new uses after being donated to
thrift store operations of a growing
number of non-profits.
There are many ways to minimize our
environmental footprint, and I would
encourage all members of the Greenhill
community to explore all the options –
including recycling.
Rusty Jaggers, parent of junior Richard,
Lindsay ‘04
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