Reduce, Reuse & Recycle

Are you practicing the 3Rs - Reduce, Reuse & Recycle?

... if not, it is high time you start doing that. In recent times I have noticed an increased awareness among people. Many organizations are practicing and actively promoting the value of being environment friendly. In almost all advanced countries, the local municipalities (or other organizations) provide means to recycle. It is everybody's responsibility to make our Earth a better place to live for our children. Some don't even bother to make an effort to recycle - be it laziness or be it the thought that it wouldn't make a difference in their lifetime. True, it probably won't make a drastic difference in our lifetime, we will still live and die in a world where waste - toxic or otherwise wouldn't be "our" major concern in our busy life. But I guess it is our moral responsibility to help reduce the waste pile-up and make sure our children do not inherit a toxic living place. Give it a thought, do you want your children to go through the trouble of cleaning up the mess YOU made?

Growing up, I am sure most of you came across this story (or a similar one). Here it is to jog your memory, pardon my poor narrative skills. Once upon a time, a king finds a wise old man planting seeds for a fruit tree. The king asks the old man why he is planting it at his age when he will never be able to enjoy its fruits in his lifetime. The old man replies that he is planting it for others to enjoy the fruits, saying they were lucky to grow up in a world of trees and plants providing sustenance only because their ancestors planted them. The king appreciates the wise old man and gifts him a bag of gold coins to which the old man promptly replies that the yet-to-be-tree has already given him fruits.

Hopefully it is now not lost on you to be responsible and start practicing the 3Rs. Wise old men told stories like these to make us realize how we can make a difference. I hope this makes you think about recycling. To some who might say they can't recycle where they live, they still can practice the first 2Rs - Reduce and Reuse.

In my future posts, I will list a few things I do (and you could too) to practice 3Rs.