Reduce, reuse and recycle — they are like three siblings, and one of them gets all the attention.

Recycling, while better than throwing cardboard, cans and bottles into landfills, is not the end-all, be-all solution to waste reduction. It can be very efficient, depending on the product — for instance, aluminum cans are great for recycling because it takes about 5 percent of the energy to make a recycled can than it does to make one from scratch. Plastics, on the other hand, can still be recycled, but not as efficiently.

But enough about recycling — it’s already most visible, even though it’s at the bottom of the waste reduction food chain. That phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle” doesn’t just suggest ways to help the environment, but it lists them in order of importance and efficiency. Let’s shed the spotlight on the lesser-known parts of that popular slogan.

Reduce

The problem with landfills is that a lot of the garbage just sits in them without being naturally broken down. Bacteria that would decompose some of the trash cannot survive in an enclosed and deoxygenated environment, so waste accumulates. Preventing an excessive amount of waste from entering a landfill is the first and most efficient step in waste reduction. If it isn’t created in the first place, it doesn’t become a problem.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the amount of waste we create each day has gone from 2.7 pounds to 4.4 pounds in the last 35 years. That means throughout an entire year, we each dispose of 1,606 pounds of trash. Now if we consider all Americans, that’s nearly half a trillion pounds of garbage every year. Yes, I said trillion.

A good way to prevent waste is shopping based on the amount of packaging goods come in. A lot of food is sometimes double or triple packaged (reminds me of the Mitch Hedberg joke about Pepperidge Farm bread being wrapped twice), and that packaging serves no purpose but to eventually earn a spot in a trash can. Cereal comes in both bags and cardboard boxes, and when it comes in cardboard boxes it is still wrapped in a bag inside. Why add the extra cardboard box to the equation? Plastic bags to carry fruits and vegetables could be avoided by bringing your own carriers to the grocery store.

There are countless ways to reduce waste from the outset, immediately decreasing the amount of waste created in the first place.

Reuse

What might not be useful to you anymore could be useful to someone else, which is why reusing items either yourself or donating them to be reused by someone else is essential to keeping items that are functional out of the landfill.

The reusable program here at Ohio University is exceptional because as college students, we tend to buy an enormous amount of stuff during the year and then don’t need it anymore or don’t really want to be responsible for trucking it home when summer rolls around. Move-out is upon us, but that doesn’t mean everything in your pile of “don’t need anymore” has to be sent to the dumpster.

There are sites at all dorms to put reusables, and this includes anything and everything that could be used by someone else. For instance, rugs (even if they are beer-stained, they can be cleaned), notebooks, clothes and also collection sites for unopened food are also at every dorm. Off-campus residents can call Re Use Industries (698-8200), APAC Furniture Collection (797-2608) or New to You (592-1842) about getting their reusables picked up; it doesn’t get much more convenient than that.

The items collected for reuse will be donated throughout the Athens community, so it’s not only benefiting the environment but also people in need around the area. For more information on drop-off sites and the re-usable program, visit www.facilities.ohiou.edu/recycle.

Recycling has its benefits, but it needs to be seen as the last resort rather than the first option. Reducing waste is prevention, which is the easiest way to avoid creating waste in the first place. But if the chance to reduce has passed you by, try reusing it or offering it to someone or some entity that will make use of it and then won’t have to purchase an item made from entirely new material.

Especially during these final weeks of trashing all the stuff you collected during the past three quarters, try to send off whatever might not have a purpose for you but could for someone else to be reused instead of to a dumpster. The planet and those in need will appreciate it.

Cathy Wilson is a junior journalism major and a copy editor for The Post. Send her an e-mail at cw224805@ohiou.edu.