Reduce
Reduce means that we use less of the natural resource by cutting down on those practices which lead to their wastage.
By reducing pollution, the earth can be protected from chronic and adverse effects.
For example,
- Bicycles should be used instead of cars for short distance travel.
- Food products that has been grown locally and naturally using viable methods should be preferred.
- Lights and other electrical appliances should be switched off when not in use. Unplugging them when not in use would also help to save energy. Energy efficient light bulbs should be used.
- Eco friendly chemicals should be used for washing utensils, cars and homes .
- Medicines with high dosage when end up in sanitation system, are very difficult to isolate from the water system and would cause adverse effect on people who would consume this water.
- Excess unwanted usage of water should be avoided. Water saving apparatus should be used, leakage of taps should be fixed and washing utensils with running water should be avoided.
Another way to prevent pollution is to spread awareness about the severity of pollution and ways of reducing it, to as many people as possible. This can be done through creation of environmental groups.
Recycle
Recycling means that we should collect the used and discarded items of paper, plastic, glass and metals, and send them to the respective industries for making fresh paper, plastic, glass or metal objects.
Reuse
This is event better than recycling because it saves the energy which is spent at recycling a product. Things are used over and over again And it makes economic and environmental sense.
For ex.
- The plastic jars in which we buy various food items like jams and pickles, etc can be used later on for storing things like salt, spices, sugar, tea-leaves and pulses, etc.
- Cloth sacks should be brought along to the store instead of taking home new paper or plastic bags. Such sacks can be again and again, saving some trees.
- Used clothes, toys, furniture, and other things may be donated to a charity.
- Cloth material should be used rather than tissue paper to save trees.
- Rechargeable batteries should be used instead of single use batteries. Also used batteries need to be disposed in a proper way.
- Ceramic coffee mug should be used instead of paper cups.
- Some smaller beverage companies use glass bottles to hold their products and promote consumers returning the bottles. The company then cleans and refills the bottle and uses it again. It is estimated that the average glass beverage bottle can make about 15 round-trips between the manufacturer and the consumer before it must be discarded.