Thinking more about "This I Believe" statement

My statement was talking about recycling and using recycled materials to create works of art. I believe that i already take part in reusing materials and recycling, but there are always ways to push an idea further. I live in an apartment now, so its a little more difficult to reach some of my environmental goals, but i would love to save and reuse rainwater. When i have a house of my own i plan on using rain buckets to collect water to reuse. I would also love to get a hybrid car one day. They are very expensive, but the environmental benefits of driving a low carbon dioxide emitting vehicle are numerous! One very important way to enact my beliefs about recycling is to gain more and more information and knowledge. Many people recycle and they think that's how they care for the environment. Not many people actually know where their recycling goes. We have this detachment from our trash or our recycling as soon as it leaves on the truck, but how do we know if it is actually being used the way we want it to be? It is so important to research your local recycling centers and make sure they are being used correctly, or used at all. Most of these ideas are more like long term goals. One change i have made right now was switching from bottled water to a Britta water filter. I fill up a reusable nalgene to bring to class instead of taking plastic water bottles. if everyone did this, water bottling companies would go out of business and there would be SO much less plastic bottles in the recycling. It saves tons of money and the planet! Another way i can be more ecologically mindful while at Elon, is by taking advantage of the Bio Bus. It comes to my apartment complex and i use it almost everyday. Its pretty sad though, because aside from certain busy times of the day, the bus is almost always empty! Its such a great option for students and i wish there was a way to promote Bio Bus use more. Maybe that's something we could do in this class. Sometimes they have competitions at the gym where you clock all the time you spend there for a week and the person with the most hours wins a prize. We could have the same thing with the Bio Bus. :)