With carbon levels increasing a substantial way to decrease these levels is to reuse and repurpose the materials you use. Research shows that recycling and reusing materials reduces greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, reusing and repurposing materials helps sustain the environment for future generations and also reduces the amount of waste that will need to be recycled or sent to landfills and incinerators. Items that can be reused and repurposed include, old clothing, cloth grocery bags, and containers. Buy used items to reduce waste as well as the emissions created by producing new materials or disposing of them in landfills. When you think of recycling, you probably only think about paper and plastic. What many people don’t realize is that there are many more materials to recycle than just those. Some of these materials include cardboard, glass, aluminum, batteries, electronics, food, and lawn materials. If people don’t start trying to make a difference in the environment, then bad things will happen. For example, when specific waste, such as styrofoam, ends up in a landfill, the harmful chemicals seep into the soil, which can result in cancerous cells forming in the dirt. Neglecting to recycle plastic water bottles can pollute large bodies of water such as lakes, oceans, and rivers. One of the benefits of reusing and recycling is that using recycled materials means that there is less of a demand for new materials, which means there is less deforestation which helps decrease the amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. According to Florida Tech, each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4,000 kilowatts of energy, and 7,000 gallons of water. This represents a 64% energy savings, a 58% water savings, and 60 pounds less of air pollution. When talking in terms of plastic, Florida Tech states that plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year. In conclusion, you should reuse and repurpose your items to help decrease your carbon footprint, and help save the world from the harms of climate change.