Many of us were taught the story of President George Washington who, as a child, “couldn't tell a lie” and told the truth about chopping down the family’s cherry tree.

What if someone asked you…have you ever cut down a tree unnecessarily? If you are like the average American…you use about nine trees a year! That's how many trees it takes to make the 750 pounds of paper the average American uses every year.

So what can you do? Give up doing homework, right! Not so fast… there are other ways you can conserve paper and not chop away at the environment.

1) In school, make sure to ask your teacher where to recycle your used paper. Never throw it away.
2) When you have to purchase paper for a school project, ask your parents to purchase paper stamped with the symbol. This means it was made with recycled paper.
3) Think about packaging before you buy. Avoid products that are wrapped in too much packaging or have extra boxes or layers of wrapping. If you do need to buy something that has a lot of unnecessary packaging, write the company and ask them to reconsider their packaging.
4) Encourage your family to bring their own bags to the grocery store instead of using new ones each time. If you do use new ones, make sure you recycle them.
5) Skip the bag if you can. If you buy something small at the store, tell the clerk, “no bag, please.”
6) Wrap gifts creatively, such as in newspaper comics or with leftover wallpaper or fabric.


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