As Earth Day quickly approaches and students search for ways to become "green," it should be stressed that recycling is not the answer.
Not the answer in the sense that it is unknown how many bottles and old newspapers in our recycling bins actually find their way to the recycling plant. Too many times your beloved disposables, hand-selected by you to be reborn into something new, are carried miles and miles away to the nearest landfill, leaving behind contaminating carbon footprints in the process. Not the answer in the sense that recycling still consumes energy.
Recycling alone does not benefit humanity as the plan intended. It is in need of its brother and sister, Reduce and Reuse, who have been left behind in this green frenzy.
With Earth Day on the horizon, help bring back the lost siblings. Give yourself a one-up over that I-recycle-but-still-drive-an-SUV neighbor. Make him cringe.
If you are the SUV-driving neighbor, you now at least have the opportunity to make up for it.
Invest in your very own worm composter. Yes, I said worm composter. With one of these babies, you'll be making your own nutrient-rich fertilizer in no time (and be bringing on the competition of the greener summertime lawn). More importantly, you will be reducing the amount of garbage that travels to landfills every year and your carbon footprint on the planet.
Worm composters manufactured by Worm Factory consist of about four square plastic bins stacked one on top of another. The top three bins are going to hold your leftover food waste, paper and red wiggler worms. As microbes eat away at your garbage, the red wigglers consume the microbes, producing nutrient-rich worm castings.
The worm manure can then be disposed of in your garden or yard.
The Worm Factory composter is compact, odor-free (if used correctly) and can be stored under your kitchen sink. It can be found online and is a no-brainer to assemble. The worms can consume about five to eight pounds of food a day, providing you with rich compost every month.
You would be reducing your waste and reusing it as fertilizer. Hopefully, you will continue to recycle all of your non-compostable packaging, making the family of "R"s complete and benefitting society to the best of its ability. Much more efficient than letting lonely brother Recycle do all the work, right?
If the idea of having a worm farm in your kitchen causes your stomach to churn, have no fear. Hop on the bandwagon; use reusable canvas totes instead of plastic bags for grocery shopping and Bio Bags (biodegradable, compostable garbage bags) to dispose your waste.
A big money saver? Stop drinking bottled water. America's tap water is strictly regulated and, unlike bottled water, tested multiple times a day.
The Gainesville 2008 Water Quality Report is available online.
Don't like the taste? Invest in a water purifying pitcher. It will save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars over a lifetime.
On your way to grab a cup o' Joe? Use a thermos or traveler's mug. Many coffee shops will offer about a 10 cent discount on your coffee if you are sporting a reusable mug. If you were to pay a visit to Starbucks every day for 10 months out of the year, thats an easy $28 back in your pocket to pay for the thermos you invested in.
Whatever way you choose to participate in Earth Day, make sure that you take all facets of the process into account. While recycling is a step toward a more ecologically friendly future, it does not work as well standing alone. Hopefully, cultivating creepy-crawlies for the production of fresh fertilizer will be at the top of your list.
Irene Vailikit is a UF philosophy freshman.
