Reduce, reuse, recycle! We've all heard the phrase, but how much do we follow those commands? When I saw this desk in the Design Museum in Gent, Belgium, I knew I was going to use a photo of it for this blog post (and that was over two months ago)! Since I launched my blog in January, everywhere I go, I have a mental list of things I want to photograph, and great examples of reducing, reusing and recycling are on that list! I knew the exact date of my post; I planned ahead that my Main Event Monday on April 20th was going to be about Earth Day 2015 on April 22nd!
I believe that every day should be Earth Day, that we shouldn't just think about ways we can reduce, reuse, and recycle only on April 22nd each year. Though I don't think I'll be making a desk out of my books that I don't plan to reread, I love that the Dandelion Communitea Cafe in Orlando had a Little Free Library right at the corner near the steps going up to their entrance! A great way to reduce the amount of books piling up on your bookshelves. Their motto-- "take a book, return a book." Little Free Libraries are located all over the world; I just checked, there are quite a few in the Netherlands, my new temporary home! I gave away a lot of my books before I moved here. I do not believe in throwing away books; I feel there is always someone somewhere who would like to read a book I no longer want! |
I first encountered this concept, minus the cute box, on the Greek islands of Kalymnos in 1991, Santorini in 2004, and Skopelos in 2012. At the hotels on each of the islands was a bookshelf with books that you could borrow or swap! I read quite a few great books that way!
I first experienced how truly huge a windmill is in 2010 in New York (left). I couldn't believe how tall they were! Windmills are all over Europe, near highways and near farms. The ones above were in Heppdiel, the small town in Germany I visited last week. But, I don't need to venture far from my new home to see windmills. You can see their faint outlines in the distance in the center of the photo below, taken from my balcony. |
To reduce our dependency on non-renewable sources of energy, there are alternative sources of renewable energy, including not only wind, but sun. I can also see evidence of this right outside our condo (below left). Solar panels are used quite extensively in Florida, where I lived for 19 years, to heat pools, and some families are making the conversion to solar power for all their electrical needs. On roof tops in Greece (below right), many water heaters are solar powered.
But the easiest way to continue reducing and recycling, is to take advantage of the recycling programs available in our countries, states or cities. I've been taking photos all over Europe and the U.S. of recycling bins. Below is just one example in Disney World at the Magic Kingdom.
What does your recycling program look like in your country/state/city/home!? Take a photo and be ready to upload to my blog post tomorrow, a Linky!