Three R's of Going Green: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

To go green and live green, remember the Three R's: (1) reduce greenhouse gases in the environment, (2) reuse products, and (3) recycle items that can no longer be used. Going green leads to a healthier environment and a healthier environment leads to a healthier you!

Improve the environment and your health using Three R's of Going Green:

• Reduce or prevent waste to reduce greenhouse gases by using less and throwing away less.
• Reuse products by giving them to other people who want or need them instead of throwing them away.
• Recycle items made of materials such as glass, metal, plastic, or paper.

What It Means to "Go Green" and "Live Green"

Reducing or preventing waste, reusing products, and recycling items are important ways to go green and live green. Going green and living green means changing our lifestyles to protect the environment in ways that also protect our health.

The topics of going green, global climate change, and healthy community design are all linked.

Going green reduces greenhouse gases released into the environment from burning fossil fuels and decomposing waste. Scientists think greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are a primary contributor to global climate change, which can harm people's health.  For example, climate change can produce severe weather, floods, and heat waves that injure people or make them sick.

Also, greenhouse gases in the air we breathe can interact with sunlight and create ozone. Ozone along with soot particles from burning fossil fuels, which is called "particulate matter," are two of the main things in polluted air that can cause people to have breathing problems such as asthma. So when we go green to reduce greenhouse gases released into the environment, we are helping avoid health effects related to climate change and air pollution.

Another way to go green and live green is by designing and building healthy communities. In healthy communities, community members live and work in buildings and landscapes that are:

• Bike paths and walking trails;
• Community centers or other social gathering places;
• Parks and ample green space;
• Accessible public transit;
• Affordable housing that allows people of all incomes to live close to their jobs and retire in the community if they choose to; and
• Higher-density land use so homes, workplaces, schools, and recreation are closer together and people can walk or bike more easily to their destination.

Ways a community with those design elements could improve health include:

• Decreasing vehicle use, which reduces air pollution and greenhouse gases in the environment, improves air quality, reduces the risk of injury from vehicle crashes, and avoids contributing to climate change;
• Promoting physical activity, which gives benefits such as helping with weight control and reducing risk for developing heart disease; and
• Increasing social connectedness and improving mental health by giving people more time, opportunities, and pleasant surroundings for activities such as socializing, playing, and engaging in physical activity.