La historia de los objetos

Things we know, but refused to acknowledge. To see the video click on the image.

Lo que ya sabíamos, pero nos resistimos a aceptar. Para ver el vídeo, pincha en la imagen.

A cloth bag

My friends Kim and Matt tell me that one of the things they are doing to “save the world” is taking a cloth bag to the supermarket. This is such a simple step that we could all take and that would do so much for the environment. As Kim says “Think of how much less plastic that is in a year!” I know most of us reuse the plastic bags we get at shops, but as I said in this post, reducing waste is much better than reusing it. This is the perfect example that to save the world we don’t always need big acts, but simple, small changes in our lives.

Reducing is better than reusing or recycling

I have decided to switch to paperless bills from my bank. Instead of getting my bills in the post, I'll only get them in my email (at least HSBC offers this service). With this simple step, I'll be reducing paper use.
I thought about this after reading The Complete Idiot's Guide to Saving the Environment, a very interesting book that provides a basic overview on the environment, global warming and other threats and, more importantly, ideas on what we can all do to help. The author says something very obvious but that I have never thought about (sometimes, I'm a bit slow...) It's much better to reduce, than reuse or recycle something. If we reduce the amount of paper (or plastic, or whatever) that we use, then it won't be necessary to reuse it or recycle it.
Why is recycling more popular then? First, because it's easier for everyone to recycle something after using it than stop using it. Also, it would obvioulsy be a disaster for some companies if we all decided to stop using some of their products, rather than still buying and later recycle them.
Of course, for things that we need (or really want), reusing and recycling are the next best options!