We can all improve our environment by reducing our use. And thankfully, the Natural Resources Council of Maine has created a brochure called Reduce Your Use, to help us do just that.
In the brochure I learned that the average Maine family of four wastes about $1600 worth of food each year contributing to more than 96 billion pounds of spoiled food Americans toss annually. And you probably already know that we must cut back on waste such as plastic bags and food containers, including polystyrene that takes centuries to break down.
I just saw a TV news report of the massive amount of plastics washing up of beaches throughout the Caribbean and South America. It is really horrible and much of that waste is washed down there from our country.
NRCM sponsors a Sustainable Maine project that focuses on solutions to wasteful habits that threaten the future of our environment. They are actually creating sustainable Maine community toolkits to help our communities reduce their environmental footprint.
The Reduce Your Use brochure contains lots of good advice from being a smarter shopper to breaking wasteful habits. And they also have good suggestions for ways to avoid using disposable plastic and polystyrene.
To get your Reduce Your Use brochure, email nrcm@nrcm.org or call 800-287-2345. You can also learn more about these great projects on their website at nrcm.org.