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I also got bitten by the environmental bug. I accepted the goal of reducing my personal impact on the environment as much as possible. "R" number one is Reduce, so I learned to do without. It's amazing how much stuff you actually don't need when you look at it objectively. I don't have a garage full of trinkets that I don't need, want or use, because I never bought them in the first place.
"R" number 2 is Reuse. When you used something a second time, you reduce your environmental impact by 50%. Using a shopping bag twice has far more environmental benefit than a lot of people produce in a lifetime. I shop at garage sales, Goodwill and the local ReUse Centre regularly. Buying a jacket from Goodwill or a book from the ReUse Centre reduces the impact on the environment by 100% because these items will not go to landfill.
"R" number 3 is recycle. I'm not a fan of recycling because it requires absolutely no change in lifestyle. In my opinion, recycling doesn't work. It's too easy to put garbage into the blue box and expect someone else to deal with the problem.
Today I am a stay-at-home father, freelance writer and part-time college instructor. I don't have to live a frugal lifestyle, but I do. I have a young daughter who has to live on this planet for the next 60, 70, 80 years or more. She may choose to have children and her children might have children. I would very much like future generations to have healthy air to breath, clean air to breath and unpolluted land to live on. Besides, I'm cheap!
Richard Best from Oakville Ontario Canada
Do you have a frugal story to share with the ThriftyFun community? Submit your essay here: http://www.thriftyfun.com/post_myfrugallife.ldml
By (Guest Post)
05/26/2006
Bravo! Good strong thinking on all of this. I especially like the comment on recycling. Never thought of it that way. I am not ready to throw out the notion of recycling, but I do see your point about there being no lifestyle change required. With global warming at our doorstep as well as other issues we need to become a society of doers, activists. Thanks for the thoughts.
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