Have a Heart, Do Your Part, Help End Animal Extinction

April 2, 2015April 20, 2015 rbradfo

As mentioned in our blog earlier this week, animal endangerment and extinction are almost always due to overpopulation of humans. Humans have caused the deforestation of major rain forests and pollution of water systems. They have hunted some species to extinction. While we cannot do much to control our ever-growing population, there are ways we can help prevent our species from overrunning the planet and eliminating the creatures we share Earth with. Here are a few ways you can you help prevent animal endangerment and extinction!

1. Check Out the World Wildlife Fun

According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)’s website, the vision of this non-profit organization is, “to build a future in which people live in harmony with nature.” And that is precisely what they do. Through education and awareness, the WWF has contributed immensely to conservation efforts around the world, whether it’s through call-to-action campaigns (such as the Earth Hour City Challenge) or by helping establish national parks. The WWF is always looking for donations. These donations are put towards conservation research, campaigns headed by the WWF, fundraising efforts, and other relief funds. You can also become a WWF Member and receive invitations to WWF activities (including fundraisers), progress reports on activities headed by WWF, travel opportunities, and much more.

2. Look Into Other Non-Profits for Conservation

There are dozens of non-profits that focus their efforts on conservation. The Natural Resources Defense Control has a comprehensive list of non-profits that are environmentally focused. You can find that list here, but we’ve picked a few of our favorites to highlight below:
Defenders of Wildlife: This non-profit focuses habitat conservation and biodiversity.
Earthwatch: This non-profit is much more scientific research based.
Greenpeace: Looking to get active? Greenpeace is really into peaceful protests!
Oceana: This non-profit focuses most of it’s efforts on ocean conservation, as well as pollution clean-up.
The Wilderness Society: The Wilderness Society not only focuses on the environment, but energy conservation as well.

3. Volunteer!

Volunteering is the most hands-on help you could give towards conservation efforts. All of the non-profits listed above have volunteer opportunities year-round. Whether you give one-time help at a beach clean-up or volunteer to clear litter from the highways in your city each weekend, your volunteering helps more than you know. By volunteering your time and effort, you are allowing others to focus their efforts on bigger projects that require more man power (and time/money) to complete.

How Overpopulation Caused Animal Extinction and Endangerment

March 30, 2015April 8, 2015 rbradfo

Humans tend to get a little “holier than thou” about their presence here on Earth. The fact of the matter is that we’re just one in literally millions. Some of the best guesstimates from top biologists around the world are that there are seven MILLION species of plants and animals on the planet — and that’s not including bacteria! When you break that number down by vertebrate (with a backbone) and invertebrate (without a backbone), our presence on Earth becomes even more insignificant — of the seven million estimated species on Earth, only 5,500 species identify as mammals like us. When you take that number into consideration, we are really only 1 in 5,500: the odds are still against us in many ways. So how is it that one small species has been capable of causing the extinction of thirty species in the last fifty years alone? You guessed it: overpopulation.

While some animal species have gone extinct due to destructive forces of nature (RIP T-Rex) or disease (RIP platypus frog), many of the thirty animals that have gone extinct in the last five decades were killed off due to habitat destruction and illegal hunting (better known as animal poaching) — two activities that are directly caused by overpopulation of humans.

One of the most widely discussed extinctions to happen in the last half-century occurred only four years ago. In 2011, the western black rhinoceros was declared extinct due to hunting. Between 1970 and 1992, the western black rhino saw a staggering decline in numbers — roughly 96% of the western black rhino population had depleted in only 22 years time. The horn of a western black rhino was used for a variety of human needs — weapons, medicine, and jewelry just to name a few. With the rising population, more animal poachers began hunting the western black rhino to keep up with demand. Oddly enough, rhino horn actually has zero medical benefits, so this creature was poached to extinction for nothing more than human greed and ignorance.

The Florida panther is one of the few big cat species that inhabits the United States. Unfortunately, the Florida panther is on the endangered species list due to overpopulation. This big cat once thrived throughout much of the southeastern United States and is now only found in 5% of its original habitat range. A majority of these panthers died due to habitat destruction caused by humans building roads through their home. The increased number of panthers in one concentrated area caused too much competition, which led to many panthers dying out of starvation. As of 2011, there’s only an estimated 100-120 Florida panthers left in the United States. Rapid population growth is leading to more deconstruction of their natural habitat. The Florida panther may be extinct because of overpopulation sooner than we think.

Safety Concerns Surrounding SXSW and Other Major Festivals

March 22, 2015April 20, 2015 rbradfo

Now that we’ve learned a little about how SXSW benefits Austin, it’s time to focus on the not-so-positive aspects of SXSW. WARNING: This might get a little dark.

SXSW started in March of 1987 and was projected to have approximately 150 attendees. Instead, more than 700 people came. And it just went up from there. The first major spike in SXSW attendance was in 2010, when the interactive portion of the event drew in 40% more people than the previous year’s festival. The following year, more than 20,000 people attended the festival — the most on record (until 2013). With that many people flooding the city, there are a number of safety concerns to address.

On March 13, 2014, 21-year-old Rashad Owens drunkenly drove his car through a crowd of festival goers waiting for a show outside of The Mohawk on Red River St. Four people died as a result of the crash and dozens of others were injured. It was the first time any serious fatalities arose during SXSW, but it scared festival goers enough that the City of Austin decided something needed to be done in order to avoid this sort of tragedy happening again.

In 2015, the City of Austin cut the number of free shows and parties available during SXSW, many of which entice people to attend by offering free alcohol and music, by nearly 25% in an effort to lower the number of drunk pedestrians and drivers on the streets. While locals may have been in a tizzy about losing their free shows, the idea of limiting the number of free events available actually proved to be somewhat effective — despite reporting long lines and maximum capacity at many of the events around town, there were no major safety issues reported during SXSW 2015. In fact, fire marshals were on top of their stuff this year and sanctioned more than 18 venues that were not meeting safety regulations.

So how are large festivals and overpopulation connected? And are there any real solutions?
To answer the first question, large festivals such as SXSW, Coachella, and Lalapalooza attract literally tens (and even hundreds) of thousands of people each year to begin with, but with population on the rise, these events are sure to draw in larger and larger crowds as the years tick by. Some festivals, such as Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL) have attempted to limit the chaos by extending the event to two weekends rather than the typical one weekend only. Unfortunately, this method has proven to be ineffective. Rather than having one crazy weekend, there are now two — not really something the locals look forward to in October (when traffic is already bad enough for UT football season). Other festivals have followed in SXSW’s footsteps and attempted to limit the number of activities during the festival — this has been somewhat effective and safety has become less of an issue.

As far as solutions are concerned, there are lots of options available, but executing them will take time and will likely require years of revisions to truly perfect. Until then, there are ways in which you can help make your city safer during times of increased visitors.

Remember to Use a Taxi/Rideshare Option(s)

As discussed in a previous blog, taxis and rideshare options such as Uber and Lyft are available in dozens of major cities across the United States. If you’re going to be drinking, there is NO EXCUSE AT ALL to drive — allocate the extra money for your weekend to be able to afford increased prices for these services during high-volume events.

Drink Plenty of Water

Not only does drinking water help you stay somewhat sober, it keeps you from dehydrating. Dehydration is a serioussafety riskduring large festivals — with all the fun surrounding you, it’s easy to forget to grab a bottle of water before heading to the stage. This is a huge mistake to make and could end up costing you a lot of wasted time, wasted money, or even worse — your life. Stay sober, stay healthy, and drink your water!

Keep Your Belongings Close

Theft is another safety concern during big festivals. Some theft operations area little bigger in scale, but armed robbery and car break-ins are not uncommon. Be sure to carry a minimum amount of cash and be prepared to alert your bank if your debit card is stolen. Luckily, we are in a day and age where you can quickly cut off your cell phone or credit card ifyou’re caught in a sticky situation and vehicles can be traced using GPS tracking systems in the worst case scenario that someone jacks your ride GTA style. Don’t travel alone — always have a friend (preferably, many friends) with you and avoid areas that seem sketchy (dimly lit passageways, secluded areas, or parking garages that are not staffed with security guards). You are in control of your safety more than you know!Have a big festival experience you want to tell us about? Good experience? Bad experience? Let us know in the comments section below!

South by SouthWHY? Why Locals Should Accept SXSW

March 20, 2015November 23, 2015 asoybel

Now that the buzz from Austin’s “South By Southwest ” has calmed down a bit, lets reflect on the event in the context of population.

First of all, just what is South By Southwest? Well, sxsw.com explains that South By is “13 days of industry conferences, a 4-day trade show, a 6-night music festival featuring more than 2,100 bands, and a 9-day film festival with more than 400 screenings.” With those features, who wouldn’t want to attend, really? But, we’ll get to that later. Let’s focus on who does. In 2014, SXSW was said to bring in registrants from 87 countries and bands from 57 countries. This is an international event, all happening right here, in Austin, Texas.

With all of those people coming into our little, aforementioned “anti-growth” city, where does everyone stay? Well, 60,458 room nights were booked in over 70 official hotels, with a whopping 13,990 individual reservations booked! And if you’re late on booking your room, or just want another feel for the city, you can always rent out some space at someones apartment! Thankfully, we have that kind-hearted southern charm to accommodate y’all! Well, some of us anyway.

Image by Forbes

Take a look at what Number 9, Jacob, has to say about South By Southwest. His telephoto lens and sad puppy eyes tell a story that anyone who’s resided in Austin for more than a year knows too well. “When do I get my city back?” Well Jacob, you’ll get your “it’s-only-around-the-corner” line at Hopdoddy back soon enough, we promise. But is it really all bad, Jacob? We get it, I-35 is rough, you already can’t handle the traffic. We understand that the only reason someone would attempt 6th street is for the adrenaline rush of drowning among other humans. We know, really, we do.

Image from realityaustin.com

Hear us out though, lets take a look at some numbers, again. The total impact of South By Southwest in 2014 created 315.3 million dollars for the Austin economy in revenue in just those few, albeit, chaotic days. What does that mean? Do we really have to explain that money = good? Just for a little modest comparison, the entire Longhorns Football season (almost half a year), only brought in a total revenue of 109 million (and we know how Texans just love football).

Lastly, don’t you as an Austinite want a tight grip on the title of “Live Music Capital of the World?” If so, and if you want what’s best for your city, you’ll grin and bear the beautiful chaos that is South By Southwest.

Photo by Jose Lozano

All data is from SXSW 2014, 2015 stats have not yet been published

Need a Job? You’re Not Alone

March 12, 2015March 30, 2015 rbradfo

Now that we’ve discussed how high unemployment rates and overpopulation correlate, it’s time for the second portion of the blog: finding solutions to these high unemployment rates. While searching for a job can be frustrating, there are many options and resources available to help you find employment opportunities in your city.

1. Craigslist
Let’s be honest: craigslist doesn’t have the best reputation. More people seem to use craigslist as a way to find “missed connections” (borderline stalking 101), pick up free furniture, or (ironically) vent about how difficult and frustrating it is to be unemployed and looking for a job. However, craigslist is also a great resource for finding jobs in major cities. As discussed in the previous blog, unemployment rates are highest in urban cities. Most major cities, including Denver, San Diego, Boston, New York, and Dallas have a craigslist page. When you’re on your cities homepage, look to the right of the page. There is a column labeled “jobs” with dozens of links leading to jobs available in specific fields. All you have to do is click a link to an area you’re interested in (writing, graphic design, hospitality, etc.) and you will be lead to another page with job postings in that field, in your city. It’s that easy!

2. Attend a Job Fair
Many major cities offer annual or bi-annual job fairs. A job fair is exactly what it sounds like: companies in the area that are hiring set up a booth in a large event space and include information about their company, the job(s) they’re hiring for, and have representatives from the company at the booth to discuss job opportunities in the company. What’s really cool about a job fair is that you can treat each booth like an interview. Since there are representatives from the companies at the job fair, it is important to bring copies of your resume, dress professionally, and leave a great first impression. It is not uncommon for employers to do short “on-the-spot” interviews, so research some of the companies you’re interested in working for prior to attending the fair so you have questions prepared for the reps.

3. Request “Information Interviews”
Information interviews are not utilized as often as they should be. An information interview is set up when an individual simply wants to learn more about the company. Common questions individuals are looking to have answered in an information interview include questions about the company’s values, what kind of work the company does, who the company’s clients are, what kind of experience someone needs to be considered for a job in the company, and what the pay rate for new hires is. Information interviews are not intrusive or an annoyance. In fact, many employers find information interviews to be a great first impression. It shows that you are eager, willing to learn, hard working, and determined. Don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone to snag the job you want!

As you can see, there are a number of ways to lower unemployment in your area and find a job for yourself. We understand that being unemployed is frustrating and stressful. However, we also know that the perfect job for you is out there — you just have to dig a little to find it! Don’t be afraid to take a part-time job that may be below your standards while you’re hunting for a full-time job that you’re qualified for. It may seem demeaning, but it shows employers that you’re not a quitter!

So get to craigslist or find a job fair today! Your perfect job is right around the corner!

Have you been unemployed for a number of months? Need help finding a job fair in your city? Tell us about your experience with unemployment and how overpopulation has effected your job search. Leave a comment below!

Will Work for Money

March 11, 2015March 27, 2015 rbradfo

There is a direct correlation between high unemployment rates and overpopulation. More often than not, when a country’s population increases, the number of jobs available does not change. Therefore, a larger number of people begin fighting for the same jobs. Clearly, this poses a problem for individuals and families. The United States saw the worst unemployment rate since the recession of 1981-1982 when the Great Recession of 2008 hit. In October 2009, the United States hit 10% unemployment and saw the loss of 8.4 million jobs across the nation. It was absolutely devastating.

Luckily, since the recession hit, unemployment has decreased. However, it is still over 5%. In fact, unemployment rates around the world are higher than many would like for them to be.

This chart illustrates global unemployment rates from 2013. That year, global unemployment jumped by more than five million people. In 2011, the global population hit seven billion — a number that the US Census Bureau didn’t estimate to happen until 2012. In fact, since 2011, the global population has increased by 3 million… and it just keeps growing.

With spikes in global population come spikes in global unemployment rates. Let’s take a look at Spain in particular. Spain has a startlingly high unemployment rate — as of 2014, it was at 26%. According to Oxford University, there are five reasons for this: rigid labor market laws, reliance on “brick and mortar” jobs, banking corruption, a flawed education system, and (you guessed it) an influx in population, primarily from immigrants looking for work. Unfortunately, much of the companies that these immigrants were hoping to gain employment with were no longer around after 2009, when Spain began slowing down on the number of houses and businesses that were being built. Therefore, when these huddled masses arrived, there wasn’t just no where to work — there was no where to live.

Spain isn’t the only country suffering from high unemployment rates. In fact, oddly enough, a majority of global countries with high unemployment rates are some of the most developed nations in the world — the United States, France, Ireland, Germany, and Canada also have exceptionally high unemployment rates for the amount of businesses in these countries.

Unemployment isn’t the only serious consequence of overpopulation. Underemployment is another issue. Underemployment basically means that, an individual with a college degree or years of experience in a given field, will sometimes have to take jobs that are entry-level or far below what their experience or degrees warrant, simply so that they can have a steady income. Often, these jobs are underpaid and overworked. According to Slate, underemployment rates in the United States are more than twice that of unemployment rates.

Even sadder to note is that these jobs are highly competitive — despite being far below what some people are qualified to do. Although some unemployment rates (including the United States’) have dropped over the last two years, this is still a global crisis that was caused by overpopulation and a solution needs to be addressed before homeless rates increase as well.

Pop Pulse on Pollution Solutions

March 2, 2015March 4, 2015 sadams7

A rapid increase in urban area dwelling poses one of the most detrimental threats against long-term sustainability. The environment truly suffers the most, even though we are quick to defend our human discomforts: sitting in stagnant bumper-to-bumper traffic, washing dishes by hand, heck – we’re even irritated by sorting our waste to reduce the amount of rubbish and refuse. Some people don’t even bother getting their trash to a bin; making habit of discarding garbage on the side of the road or on the sidewalk.

If only the affect was considered before we complain about trivial things and taking the easy way. All it takes is a few minutes of research to understand WHY it is imperative to our existence as a species to develop renewable sources and WHAT you can do leave a smaller footprint.

Not to recall stereotypes of a neo-pagan, tree-hugging, hemp-wearing, peace sign-posing hippy, but if the Earth was treated like the gift that it is, we wouldn’t have issues of deforestation, air pollution, and mass sewage storage. Pollution alone can (and has) dismantle ecosystems, endanger and eradicate various species of animals who also call this big spinning rock home, and cause disease and health issues for the Earth’s most dominant and dangerous species.

If the majority of civilization is headed towards occupying major cities, we need to get our priorities in order. For one, if the bulk of your neighbors and fellow cityfolk subscribe to environmentally hazardous (basically lazy) behavior, you are more likely to adopt these behaviors by succumbing to a risky form of groupthink. Many of the latest residents tourban areas will have roots in tending farms and looking after land, so it’s important for their new communities to assist them in making economical choices that can sustain city living.

The United States Enviromental Protection Agency (EPA) developed a comprehensive list of ways you can reduce air pollution at home, on the road, and in store by adjusting buying behavior. We recap the big ones for you, but please visit the full list here.

AT HOME:

Conserve energy by turning of appliances and lights and unplugging devices when they are not in use or when you leave the room
Recycle paper, plastic, glass bottles, cardboard, and aluminum cans
Keep woodstoves and fireplaces well maintained
Plant trees around your home to provide shade in the summer, but to allow light in the winter. Potted plants also do a great job of reducing air pollutants. We recommend fruit trees, river birch, holly, star magnolia, and boxwood. David J. Nowak of the USDA Forest Service coined the mnemonic device to aid in remembering the benefit of trees: Temperature reduction, Removal of air pollutants, Emission of volatile organic compounds and Energy effects on buildings
Connect your outdoor lights to a timer or use solar lighting.
Wash clothes with warm or cold water instead of hot.
Lower the thermostat on your water heater to 120F.
Use low-VOC or water-based paints, stains, finishes, and paint strippers.
Make the choice to smoke outdoors, or quit altogether

ON THE ROAD:

Keep tires properly inflated and aligned.
In the summer, fill gas tank during cooler evening hours to cut down on evaporation. Avoid spilling gas and don’t “top off” the tank. Replace gas tank cap tightly.
Avoid waiting in long drive-thru lines. Park your car and go in.
When possible, use public transportation, walk, or ride a bike.
Get regular engine tune-ups and car maintenance checks (especially for spark plugs).
Use an energy-conserving (EC) grade motor oil.
Ask your employer to consider flexible work schedules or telecommuting.
Report smoking vehicles to your local air agency.
Join a carpool to get to work.

MAKE SMART PURCHASES:

Choose efficient, low-polluting vehicle models.
Choose products that have less packaging and are reusable.
Shop with a canvas bag instead of using paper and plastic bags.
Buy rechargeable batteries for devices used frequently.

It’s Uber Important to Get a Lyft and Reduce Traffic

February 24, 2015March 4, 2015 rbradfo

With the rate at which the world is expanding, it’s no surprise that traffic has begun piling up across the globe. In our own city, it usually takes around two hours to travel a 10 mile distance during peak traffic hours — which seems to be any time Monday-Friday and nights on the weekends. Shockingly enough, there are cities with much worse traffic than ours (which we almost refuse to believe, even though the statistics speak for themselves). Traffic may seem like a huge, inevitable headache, but there are plenty of ways you can change your methods of travel that could help lighten traffic!

1. Public Transportation

Public transportation is any form of transportation that is not a personal vehicle, bicycle, or motorcycle. Many cities refer to their public transportation options as “public transit.” In the United States, New York City sees the highest number of public transit users than any other major city. In fact, a study conducted by FiveThirtyEight Data Labs found that New York City has more public transit users than the sixteen other cities with highest volume of public transit users combined. That same study found that a majority of the best public transit systems are located along the Northeast and West coasts, while the worst public transit systems are located in the south, including Texas and Oklahoma. The Midwest has some cities with extremely successful public transit systems (Chicago, Minneapolis, Baltimore, etc.) and others that are not as successful. In this study, public transit included buses, trains, subways, and monorails. Public transit systems do cost money, but the most a passenger will likely have to pay, even in major cities, is less than $10 a day. In our weird city, we turn to Capital Metro for all of our public transit needs. To determine what your cities’ public transit has to offer, simply Google “[your city] public transit system” and you should have no problem finding fees, schedules, and services available in your city.

2. Carpooling

Got a bunch of cool friends? Get together with your work or school buddies and come up with a carpool schedule for the week! Not only is it fun to ride with friends and suffer through the traffic together, carpooling with friends will help reduce the amount of traffic in your city. Think of it this way. You and four of your co-workers all live within five miles of one another. Each morning, you all leave your homes around the same time and arrive to work around the same time. Including yourself, there are now five cars on the road headed towards the same destination at the same time. If yourself and your four co-workers got together and devised a carpool schedule, the five cars on the road each morning has now been reduced to one. While it may not seem like a huge impact, imagine the difference it would make if everyone in your office chose to carpool to work. A company with 50 employees could slash the number of cars being driven to work by 80% if everyone went five to a car. WOW!

3. Other Ride Sharing Options

If carpooling or public transit do not seem like your cup of tea, consider other ride sharing options such as taxi cabs, Uber, or Lyft. All of these ride share options operate under the same basic pretense: you call for a ride, someone arrives to pick you up, you pay based off a base rate + distance + time + tip (and in some cases a safety fee) and you’re at your destination! For the most part, taxis tend to cost a bit more than Uber or Lyft. In our awesome city, Uber costs a bit less than Lyft, but BOTH are cheaper than Yellow Cab. The drivers for Lyft and Uber are required to have a clean driving record to ensure that only the safest drivers are getting you to and from your destination. The wait times for these ride share services tend to be much less time than the wait for a taxi. During peak hours, some ride share services tend to up their prices, so be sure to check the price before you book a car! If you’re interested in finding out if Uber or Lyft are available in your city, just click the links!
Have an interesting way that you’re lowering traffic in your city? Got a traffic nightmare story you just need to vent about? How about a favorite song to listen to while stuck in traffic? Comment below and let us know what’s on your mind!

The head of Texas is feeling a little congested

February 23, 2015March 4, 2015 asoybel

Forbes lists Austin, Texas as the 4th US city with the worst traffic, sandwiched between San Francisco at number 3 and New York at 5. So just how is it that a laid back, eclectic, and fun-loving city like Austin has such an appalling case of congestion? We’re about to get into that.

Coincidentally, Forbes also lists Austin as the fastest growing city in the nation with a population of 1.8 million and a growth rate of 2.8%! This is a heavily weighted factor in our dilemma of traffic jams for a few reasons.

First of all, as stated in this NPR article, Austin has long been a city opposed to growth and industrialization. The liberal atmosphere never allowed for mass growth and therefore, no infrastructure was erected in regards to that sentiment. The article continues stating that this mentality is one of a “If We Don’t Build It, They Won’t Come” idealization. However, this thought process has obviously failed any Austinite that has driven ( if you call 2 mph “driving”) along I-35 around 4:30-6pm. Actually, KXAN states that Austin drivers wasted a sum of 41 total hours stuck in traffic in 2014.

However, there is hope! Gov. Tech. explains the possibility of utilizing crowd sourcing for data on how to better improve traffic lights. This could potentially be a structural answer to the ever-lasting issue of traffic. Ideally, this smart-version of congestion control is something we could see being implemented in the next few years. Another structural solution is that of infrastructure like ideas such as Prop. 1 have proposed. Unfortunately, Austin’s residents seemed to think implementing a railway in a strange location would be an unnecessary waste of tax dollars.

Another phenomenon to observe is the course of housing costs and their correlation with traffic. Various residents often cite having to move complete locations in order to happily commute to work or leisure. Therefore, housing rates increase and make Austin a more expensive place to live.

Each of these occurrences, stemming from Austin’s desire to maintain it’s cool and quirky vibe have consequentially been it’s visible downfall. And unfortunately, if structural answers aren’t put into place, we might see this once lively, peculiar, city become a town full of angry motorists.

Lastly, If there’s one nice thought to have while you’re stuck watching the sunset on the capitol building as the hours go by, it’s that traffic has been shown to have a direct relation with economic health. So if you’re not doing well in the traffic, at least your city is!

I-35 photo by Deborah Cannon

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, REPEAT

February 9, 2015February 17, 2015 rbradfo

The amount of waste the United States produces in a single year is astronomical. According to a study conducted in 2012 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Americans generated more than 251 million TONS of trash in one year. To put that number into perspective, let’s consider the size of the wise and gentle elephant. One male African elephant can weigh up to eight tons. Therefore, the amount of trash we threw into landfills that year is equivalent to 31,375,000 elephants. PS: That’s more than the entire population of African elephants on the planet — YIKES! With so much trash being produced by us each year, there must be more lucrative solutions to our overflowing landfills. Luckily, some old school hipsters in 1970 kick-started the first Earth Day, which introduced the idea of recycling to the United States.

In the same study conducted in 2012, the EPA found that 87 million tons, or approximately 34% of the trash produced, was recycled waste. While 34% is a much higher number than in previous years, it could still be higher. The EPA recommends a three step system to take control of the waste in your life. These three steps are easy to remember, as they all start with an “r”: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

The following image demonstrates how this concept is a constant loop, rather than a one-way model.

The first step in the process, reduce, ties in very closely to the second step, reuse. The EPA suggests that the easiest way to reduce your waste is to create less in the first place. Each time you buy a new plastic water bottle instead of investing in a thermos, new materials must be produced to offset the bottle you’ve just used. Making new materials requires the use of raw materials. These raw materials that are taken from the Earth must be remade and transported. This costs money and transporting the goods burns fuel. Therefore, by reducing the amount of new materials made and reusing materials you already have, you are saving both money and materials. In addition to these benefits, reducing and reusing materials also lowers the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases cause climate change, which contributes to everything from intensified storms to the melting of the polar ice caps. Using products to their fullest extent makes it so that less materials are being made each day, which will not only lower the amount of trash generated, but also lower the amount of recycling generated each year. Although recycling is beneficial to the environment, it is still ideal to reuse as much as possible.

There are a number of ways in which one can strive to lower their waste and increase their reuse of materials. Perhaps the most obvious way to reduce waste is to buy used. There are big name thrift shops, such as Goodwill or The Salvation Army, that offer donated shoes, clothes, furniture, dishes, and virtually every other kind of material for a discounted price. You can also check out thrift shops that are specific to your own city. In our weird and wonderful city, places such as Plato’s Closet, Buffalo Exchange, and Thrift Land offer a vast selection of goods. There are ways in which you can lower the amount of disposable items you use on a daily basis as well. For example, rather than packing your lunch in a paper bag each day, buy a reusable lunch box. Instead of buying a cup of coffee from Starbucks, bring a coffee mug to work and use the community coffee pot. Another way to reduce waste is to buy items with minimal packaging. There is no reason to purchase an item that is wrapped in six layers of cardboard, plastic, or Styrofoam. All these items do is create clutter.

The “big five” items that are recyclable include paper, plastic, cardboard, aluminum, and glass. However, there are plenty of other items, such as food waste and clothing, that can be recycled as well. Most recycling plants will accept the “big five”, but you may need to do a little digging to determine where you can recycle old furniture, electronics, and clothing in your area. The easiest way to recycle is to keep everything sorted that you’ve used. Any department store or more specialty shops, such as The Container Store, will have a number of items (think: RubberMaid) to choose from, depending on how much recycling you incur in a week.

Fun Fact: Goodwill will take any item, even if it is ripped or stained, and send it to a recycling plant if they deem it unfit for resale.

So try this! Each day this week, find something in your life that you can reduce, reuse, or recycle. Whether it’s going to a vintage thrift shop for a weekend shopping trip with your girlfriends, recycling your plastic water and buying a reusable one, or setting up a method for keeping your recyclables separated at your home, you will be doing a big part to not only help the environment, but keep the amount of waste generated by our massive population under control.

Have a cool or interesting way that you’ve been reducing the amount of waste in your life? Comment below and let us know the steps you’re taking to sustain the environment in our ever-growing world!