REDUCE
REPAIR
REUSE
RESPECT

Recycling is for when you can’t do anything else with it, but sometimes recycling is worse than landfilling(!).

But I made my own microphones case from an old metal file box with handle that was thrown out by a neighbour. Inside I put the styrofoam from am over packed stereo system after that foam had been cut and holed with a knife. I used layers of foam and the case now holds six microphones. One microphone was getting old, so when a friend said on her facebook status that she needed a microphone I offered it to her for much much less than a new one. The microphones are not getting much use anyways. One way of reusing is selling something you are not using. Also one can loan out stuff to friends to use if it is just gathering dust.

My big focus has been on buying only what I absolutely need. As the urge to shop slowly leaves me, it is becoming less and less hard. It helps that I blog about the stuff for several hours every day . . .

Still, without external structures and support, my belief is that consumerism will continue to run wild. There needs to be consumption taxes, incentives for lesser consumption, and on a larger scale, a complete overhaul of our economic system. We need to move to a ‘zero-carbon’ based economy.

http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com