[OKRA] Tulsa World Use Less Stuff Week Story

[Shields, Susie]

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Earth to you: Use less stuff 

by: DAVID HARPER World Staff Writer
Sunday, April 19, 2009
4/19/2009 4:14:38 AM

Use less stuff. 

The Earth will thank you for it. 

Saturday was the first day of Use Less Stuff Week. Embedded within the
celebration will be Earth Day on Wednesday. 

The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality is coordinating this
campaign, designed to encourage people to, well, use less stuff. 

"Since using less stuff is something everyone can easily do to celebrate
Earth Day, organizers thought combining these events would be helpful to
Oklahoma citizens," said DEQ Use Less Stuff Campaign Coordinator Susie
Shields. 

Organizers say using less stuff can be practiced on a corporate,
community or personal level. 

For example, in an effort to be more energy efficient, the DEQ is
aggressively pursuing Gov. Brad Henry's goals for reducing energy
consumption in state government and has developed a comprehensive office
recycling program in Oklahoma City. 

The agency also is demonstrating landscaping with native Oklahoma plants
that require almost no mowing, watering or fertilizing. 

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that Americans throw out
more than four pounds of garbage each in their daily trash. This doesn't
seem like much in the grand scheme of things, but when one considers the
resources it took to make the materials that were disposed, this amounts
to a significant waste of resources - raw materials used in the
manufacturing process, energy use for manufacture and transportation,
etc. 

Use Less Stuff Week is an offshoot of Use Less Stuff Day, founded by Bob
Lilienfeld, editor of The ULS Report. 

Lilienfeld, who often appears on radio and TV to talk about
environmental issues, co-wrote the 1998 book "Use Less Stuff:
Environmentalism for Who We Really Are." 

"While recycling is important, it's still a process that uses materials
and energy," the Rochester, Mich., resident said in a statement. "Thus,
it's better to not create waste in the first place. I'm thrilled that
Oklahoma is expanding the concept to last a full week." 



For more information on the Use Less Stuff campaign, visit
tulsaworld.com/deq and click on the Use Less Stuff link under the
Environmental Education heading.

David Harper 581-8359 
david.harper at tulsaworld.com 


Associate Images:

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A pile of trash including boxes sits outside a home in Broken Arrow. The
Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality is urging residents to
adopt more sustainable practices during its Use Less Stuff Week. Tulsa
World file






Copyright (c) 2009, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved 

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