Have a great Earth Day!

Hello everyone, tomorrow (April 22nd) is Earth Day so I decided to do a "green" lesson, or in other words, an environmentally friendly lesson! Now, I really think that the Earth is in trouble-we have too many people, using too many resources, too quickly. The Western consumer lifestyle is not sustainable on a global level. So what can we do?

Well first off, everyone can:

Think Globally. Act Locally.

This means that we have to think about the whole world BUT to help fix the Earth we need to change our behavior and do what we can to help our LOCAL environment. If everyone on Earth does this then we can have a GLOBAL impact.

The other thing we can do is to follow the 3 Rs of the environment:

REDUCE

This means you should try and reduce (通分-つうぶん or リデュース) the amount of resources you use.

-If you see that you throw away lots of food every week, BUY LESS FOOD!

-If you can, DRIVE LESS.

-If possible BUY LESS STUFF, do you really need 20 pairs of shoes???

You can check out the Story of Stuff here: http://www.storyofstuff.com/
It's a really interesting video which will change how you see our consumer society, how wasteful it is!

REUSE

This means the you should try to REUSE (再使用-さいしよう, 再利用-さいりよう or リユース) your old things.

-Turn an old shirt into some rags to clean your house with.

-Use plastic containers as planters for flowers.

-You can sell old furniture & clothes to a second-hand store.(リサイクルショップ)

-Many designers now reuse old kimonos to make all kinds of accessories, you can see some here: http://www.japanesestreets.com/reports/596/the-great-kimono-revival

-I often carry a folded up plastic bag with me in my bag, that way if I go shopping I can reuse it and at the same time I am reducing the amount of plastic bags I use! Plus I hate having a big bag full of plastic bags in my apartment...

RECYCLE

This is the most famous, after you have reused something many times, maybe it is getting really really old so you finally have to throw it away... ...but wait! If you can you should recycle it (再循環-さいじゅんかん or リサイクル), let a company break it down and then reuse it to make something new!

-I often try to share magazines with other people but sometimes no one wants the magazine so then I recycle it. Recycle old newspapers, magazines, etc!

-Always put PET bottles and cans in the recycling bins.

-Take old batteries, printer cartridges, electronics, etc. back to the electronics store, they often have programs or boxes to help you recycle them!

Ok, I hope you have learned a bit of English and maybe you will try to be a bit kinder to the Earth. Have a nice Earth Day!

Phil