Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Get ready for another year of fascinating speakers covering topics from roses to mushrooms, dried flowers to fresh herbs. Also,learn about inspiring conservation projects from Ed Almanza, who is working to protect the Aliso Creek Estuary, and Dr. Jana Johnson, who nearly single-handedly saved the Palos Verde blue butterfly from the brink of extinction. And each month, you get to hear me, your president, speak passionately about how you can help save the planet by reducing, reusing, and recycling. I reused Jeanne Yale’s president’s theme. I had planned to recycle my president’s messages from my first term as President in 2018, but I couldn’t find them on my computer.
I grew up in Northern California in the 1970s. Recycling was a challenge: bi-metal cans had to be cleaned and flattened, glass bottles needed metal rings and labels removed, and we had to drive our collection to the next town—not for cash, but to get a gas voucher. We did it because we loved and respected the planet and its limited resources. Today, recycling is much easier, with curbside pickup in dedicated bins. You probably know other simple steps to help protect the environment: carry a reusable water bottle, use cloth bags at the grocery store, avoid Reduce, Reuse, Recycle fast fashion and buy secondhand, pick recycled paper products, and squish your toilet paper roll to save space. I’m a bit obsessed with toilet paper. People use at least 57 sheets daily and 27 rolls per year, which adds up to 384 trees over a lifetime. If those trees stood, they could have absorbed carbon from nearly 10 million miles of car travel. Nationally, if each person swapped just four rolls of regular paper for recycled paper a year, we could save a million trees and 356 million gallons of freshwater annually. As you can see, small changes can make a big difference. Global warming isn’t one overwhelming problem; it’s a collection of many smaller issues we can address.
One action you can take this month is to join the Coastal Cleanup on Saturday, September 20, at Main Beach, from 9 am to noon. In one event, you can serve your community, help protect our planet, and if you visit our table, share your love of gardening.
Nancy Englund
2026-2026 President