Greening Our Community

Citizens in every community can do many activities to work together and reduce waste. We can all make a difference by reducing, reusing, and recycling materials and encouraging our neighbors to do the same. Here are a few friendly reminders as listed on the EPA’s Web site worth considering:

 

— On Earth Day, April 22, show your commitment to a clean environment by volunteering for a cleanup effort in your community or initiating a cleanup effort in your school, on your street, along roadsides, vacant lots, or other local areas. Remind your friends not to litter.

 

— Organize a recycling drive in your neighborhood or school. Collect bottles, glass, plastic, newspapers, used CDs, or books, and take them to your local recycling center or reuse organizations, such as charities.

 

— Organize a community drop-off site for old computers at a neighborhood school. The computers can count as tax-deductible donations and can be refurbished by the school for use.

 

— Share the ride and the road. When going to work or school, try carpooling, biking, walking, or riding public transportation to reduce pollution. (Take the initiative and organize a carpool if there is not one available to you.)

 

— Organize a green waste diversion and composting program for your neighborhood or school. It only takes a small amount of land space to collect organic waste into a compost pile. The compost can be bagged and sold for community or school fundraising projects.

 

—    Hold a “donation picnic” where the members of your community can have lunch, talk, and bring their old toys, clothes, books, furniture, and other items for reuse by charitable organizations. (www.epa.gov)