Lesson 2 The Three ‘R’s- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle A Miscellany of A-Z

1. Lesson 2 The Three ‘R’s- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle A Miscellany of A-Z Practical Everyday Simple Hints and Information

2. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • Contents

3. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • Introduction • In Lesson 1, we saw how Communities come together to bring about improvements to their local environment through team effort. • Everyone has a vital role in making our environment a better to place to live, work in or visit. In Lesson 2, we shall begin to explore some of the ways that we as individuals can become empowered to play our role as active citizens in our own locality, caring for the social, economic and environmental landscape of our community.

4. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • A is for • Attic Insulation and Draught Proofing • Facts: • Up to one third of heat loss in a home is through the roof. A 150mm (6”) attic insulation can pay for itself in energy savings within 2 years. • Up to 15% of heat escapes through badly fitting external door and windows. Fitting draught excluders is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to reduce heat loss.

5. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • B is for • Batteries • Buy a battery re-charger and use recyclable batteries

6. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • C is for • Curtains • Pull the curtains at night. Heavy lined curtains reduce heat loss through windows. • During the day time, curtains should be open to let the sun shine in.

7. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • D is for • Double Glazing • Double glazing reduces heat loss through windows and reduces condensation and noise.

8. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • E is for • Energy Savings • Why Energy Save? • Every time we use energy for heating or electricity in Ireland, that energy is most often produced by the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, coal or gas. There is a finite amount of fossil fuels in the world and once you burn oil once and release it’s stored energy you cannot burn it again and when we burn fossil fuels, we release greenhouse gases into the earth’s atmosphere and this is causing global warming. • Did you know that an ordinary 100 watt bulb uses 5 times more electricity an energy saving bulb. (CLF light bulbs)

9. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • F is for • Food • 3 Practical Tips • Buy fruit and vegetables that have no unnecessary packaging . Bananas are a good example. • Where possible buy groceries packed in recyclable packaging like glass or cardboard instead of foil or plastic • Use a lunchbox for your sandwiches and don’t wrap them in plastic

10. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • G is for • Garden • Have a garden composter for organic waste like vegetable peelings, food leftovers , tea bags, fruit peelings, garden waste and divert 1/3 of your waste away from landfill. • Have a digester in your garden, this will allow you dispose of all cooked foods, including chicken bones etc. • Use good mulch on your flowerbeds to reduce watering • Lawns do not need to be watered

11. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • H is for • Habits of car users • While we sometimes need to use cars, in many cases we simply hop in without think is this trip necessary? Could we walk or use a bicycle? Remember that over a quarter of all car journeys in Ireland are under 3km. • A study in Germany showed that in a city of only 100,00 inhabitants, a 20% shift of transport from cars to bicycles resulted in a reduction of air pollution by 36%.

12. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • I is for • Ireland’s commitment to Kyoto • In 1997, a climate change conference held in Kyoto, Japan had the objective to establish a legally binding international agreement, whereby all the participating nations commit themselves to tackling the issue of global warming and greenhouse gas emissions. The target agreed upon was an average reduction of 5.2% from 1990 levels by the year 2012.

13. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • J is for • Jars and Junk • Save all glass jars and also bottles and make sure that you bring them to your local Glass Bank for recycling • Junk Collections are held on a regular basis – make good use of them

14. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • K is for • Keep an eye on hot water. • Saving hot water means saving energy and money. • 2 Practical Tips • Check that the hot water cylinder in your house is insulated with a thick lagging jacket (at least 80mm). The cost of lagging pipes and cylinders can be recouped within months. • Check that economy programmes are being used on the washing machine in your home.

15. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • L is for • Litter • Be familiar with the legal situation regarding litter and always obey signs and look out for litter bins. • “ No person shall deposit any substance or object so as to create litter in a public place or in any place that is visible to extent from a public place”

16. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • M is for • Metals • Facts: • Aluminium is the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust. • Recycling aluminium saves 95% of the energy used to produce aluminium from raw materials. • Over 390 million aluminium beverage cans are sold in Ireland each year, all of which are fully recyclable. • Recycling one aluminium can saves enough energy to run a television for three hours.

17. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • N is for • Newspapers Please ensure that all old newspapers are re-cycled • If you house has been supplied with a green bin, make sure to use it also for all magazines, junk mail, cereal and pizza boxes, milk and juice cartons, food and drink cans and other permitted materials. Fact : A report in The Irish Times of September 2nd 2008 states that in the previous year, 78.3% of all Irish newsprint was recycled. This is up from 28% in 2002, representing a jump of 45%, which is a genuine environmental success story.

18. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • O is for • Old Household Items • Think before throwing anything away – can it be reused for something else? • Can you refurbish furniture instead of buying new products?

19. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • P is for • Petrol Reduction • Remember that cars emit carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and sulphur dioxide to the air contributing to global warming, acid rain and respiraratory diseases. • Living in a more environmental manner is all about breaking habits and making choices, a start might be to become aware as to how much the car in your household is used in a average week. Ensure that the car is serviced regularly.

20. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • Q is for • Question Existing Values • For a long time the western world put a developing economy above any environmental impacts and as citizens we developed habits of using fossil fuels as a unlimited resource. • Renewable energy offers an alternative to burning fossil fuels. Ireland has huge potential to produce significant amounts of energy from wind power by harnessing the natural energy of wind through wind turbines.

21. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • R is for • 5 Good Reasons why we should Recycle • Conserves our valuable natural resources • Saves energy • Saves clean air and clean • Saves landfill space • Saves money and creates jobs • Source - REPAK

22. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • S is for • Shopping • As consumers we have a collective power to what kind of products are available. Ways that we can help • Try to become aware of the amount of packaging on the food you buy and modify your purchasing accordingly • Buy loose fruit and vegetables instead of pre-packed. • Encourage the purchase of organic food • Buy certain products in bulk and reduce amount of packaging i.e.. Washing powder • Use canvas or other reusable bags

23. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • T is for • Cleaning your Teeth • Do not run the tap all the time while washing your teeth- turn the tap off between each brushing • Use a glass to rinse your mouth and brush • If ½ a gallon of water could be saved in this way, remember that 2,000,000 people x once a day = one million gallons a day saved at least.

24. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • Uis for • Unwanted • Encourage your household to give unwanted clothes, furniture and books to charity shops, ensuring that they are in good condition. • Always think twice before you throw something out - can you use it again? • For example, glass jars washed out can be used for storage.

25. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • V is for • Valuable and VitalResource • Energy is essential to our everyday lives and without the stored energy of valuable fossil fuels world economies would not function. We all need to use energy but it is vital to how we use it and use it efficiently. • 6 simple Things ‘To Do’ • Use only enough water as necessary in a kettle • Use energy saving bulbs • Turn thermostats down • Pull out plugs when not in use • Turn off lights when you leave a room • Put lids on saucepans when cooking

26. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • W is for • Water • Water is precious. Let us conserve it. • Some Practical ways of reducing use of water (See T for ‘Teeth’ also) • Turn off tap when peeling potatoes- use a basin to clean / rinse your fruit and vegetables • Take more showers and less baths • Make sure taps are not left running • Water plants with rain water • Fix leaking taps as soon as hear them

27. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • X is for • X is for Xmas • Please ensure that your Christmas Tree is sent for recycling each year • And also recycle your present wraping

28. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • Y is for • Say Yes to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle at every opportunity

29. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • Z is for • Zero tolerance for litter bugs • A final word – recycled materials can return to the market place in as little as 30 days

30. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • Activity Sheet What Legislation cover ‘Litter’? • What year did the current legislation come into existence?

31. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • Activity Sheet Find out what ‘CLF’ stands for?

32. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • Activity Sheet In your house, carry out a survey and list 6 actions that could be introduced to making energy savings?

33. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • Activity Sheet Find out where the location nearest ‘Bring Centre’ is to your home? List all the items that can be recycled

34. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • Assessment • 1. How much heat loss in a house is through the roof? • _____________________________ • 2. Give an example of a fruit that that has no unnecessary packaging? • ______________________________

35. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • 3. How many times more energy does a standard 100watt bulb use compared to a CLF one? • ________________________ • 4. In a German study how much was the reduction in air pollution following a 20 % shift in transport habits? • _______________________________

36. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle • 5. Recycling one aluminium can will save sufficient energy to run a television for how many hours? • ___________________________ • 6. List 5 reasons why we should recycle? • ________________________________