Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. This catch phrase rings like “an apple a day” or “stop, drop and roll.” It seems, though, that the first two steps of this trio are often quickly forgotten.
Now don’t get me wrong, I support recycling, and, as a resident of Cavanaugh Hall, I look upon our “Trash is Art” Recyclemania trophy with fierce pride. But with the contest over, and St. Ed’s and Walsh left wishing they’d stolen a few more bags of cans from BP, I think Notre Dame is called to bigger and better things.
Did you know that 96 billion pounds – over 25 percent – of America’s food goes to waste each year? Or that Americans go through 28 billion plastic water bottles each year? While recycling is clearly preferable to adding to landfills, even more energy is saved when people reuse what they use, and use less to begin with.