"Reduce, Reuse, Recycle"-the three "R"s for a better environment. How do we know if we're doing enough? Look at the trashcan-the more trash we have the less "R"s we're using. But how do we fit these practices into our busy lives? With new earth friendly products and a little thought on our parts, there's no need to choose between sacrificing convenience and sacrificing the environment.

Reducing is the first "R," and the easiest to use: by making eco-friendly decisions about what you will and will not use, it saves the need for as much Recycling and Reusing.

The first step to protecting the environment is how and where you shop. When you buy products made at local manufacturers there is less pollution from transportation. Small local businesses are more likely to carry these products. Specialty stores are more likely to have a wider variety of products, including earth-friendly options. For instance, large office supply stores carry paper supplies made from recycled paper, while groceries and marts do not.

While it may seem easier to shop at Target or Walmart, Target has been criticized in the past for discrimination and carrying goods produced using sweatshop labor, while Walmart has been sanctioned for environmental problems such as toxic emissions, and a whole catalogue of social violations including discrimination, use of sweatshop and child labor, health and safety concerns, workers' rights violations, and union problems. (If you want to find out about a company, Responsibleshopper.org is a website that gives company profiles: which charities they support, and reports on their social/labor policies and environment impact.) By planning carefully and running all your errands at once, you won't use that much more gas.

When you buy anything, look carefully at how it's packaged-less packaging means less waste. Buying in bulk sometimes reduces packaging, but buy carefully-sometimes there's more packaging in bulk items. Look also for earth-friendly biodegradable packaging. For example, Annie Chun's Noodle Bowls are packed in a biodegradable, compostable bowls that are microwaveable. And make sure you either recycle those plastic grocery bags, or use paper, or bring your own cloth bags (which can be more convenient, since cloth is easier to carry.)

Composting reduces what we throw away, and recycles it into plant food, which reduces the fertilizer we have to buy. Don't have a compost bin? Ask your favorite gardener about starting

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