The Three R's

Reduce, reuse, recycle...I need to make this my mantra and focus on the reduce part. So many of us think that by recycling, we're doing the right thing. That's just a small part of caring for the earth; we need to focus on the first R. I'm a rabid recycler - I even save the paper tags from new clothing and deposit them in my recycle bin - but I get a funny feeling whenever I haul my bins to the recycling center because there is just so much of it. Recycling is good, yes, but we're still using up stuff and using precious energy to make the stuff, then to recycle the stuff. I need to come up with a personal challenge. We don't drink soft drinks or bottled water; we don't buy many frozen foods; we don't get the newspaper. Have I mentioned that we compost? I feel pretty good about our actual trash as I recycle everything I can in this community and don't buy many convenience foods. I've got to begin evaluating my waste stream to see where I can cut down and what I can eliminate. Beth, at Fake Plastic Fish has an awesome list of ways to cut down on plastic (www.fakeplasticfish.com/2007/10/list.html). Some of these I already do, some I want to start doing, and some I just can't see myself doing. Any other ideas?