Using the 3 R's to Help the Environment

Because of global warming, pollution, diminishing forests, and a limited supply of natural resources, people are becoming more aware of the importance of protecting the environment. Waste in the environment affects the air, water, land, animals, plants, and humans. When we use the environment as a waste dump, we take away land from wildlife, pollute the environment, and deplete natural resources. One way people are doing their part to protect the environment is adopting the Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle Waste Program. The 3R program reduces the amount of garbage going into landfills thereby protecting and conserving our environment.

Reduce: People reduce by purchasing items that are durable and last a long time. By purchasing long lasting products with very little packaging, you will decrease the amount of waste entering a landfill. Other ways of reducing waste include:

- Buy products that do not require a lot of energy and resources to manufacture. Look for products that contain environmentally friendly packaging.
- Reduce car use by riding your bicycle, carpooling with friends, walking, or taking the bus.
- Composting is a great way to dispose of kitchen waste. It is healthy for the soil and less waste will go into the landfill.
- Turn off lights that you are not using and use energy efficient light bulbs.
- Turn off the taps when brushing your teeth.

Reducing will help with conservation efforts and decrease landfill waste and energy use. Reducing results in less pollution and a cleaner environment. It also helps conserve natural resources.

Reuse: You can reduce waste by reusing products. Reusing methods include repairing damaged items, donating items to a worthy cause, or finding another way to use them. Some reusing tips include:

- Use cloth grocery bags instead of plastic bags. They can be used repeatedly.
- Use reusable lunch bags.
- Metal cans and plastic containers can be used for storing items.
- Donate old clothes, furniture, and toys to a charity.
- Use silverware and dishes instead of plastic utensils and plates.
- Store food in reusable plastic containers.

Another way to reuse is to hire a junk removal service. Except for hazardous materials, junk removal companies will come and remove just about any type of waste. This includes furniture, appliances, electronics, and construction refuse. Many junk removal businesses donate items to charities, repair items, and recycle.

Recycling: This process involves making new products out of old products. This means potential landfill waste becomes a new product. You can protect the environment by buying products that contain recycled materials. Many of the things we use every day are recycled. Recycled products include: paper towels, toilet paper, paper bags, beverage bottles and cans, milk cartons, and much more. Most products have the recycle label on the package.

Many towns and cities have recycling programs. Some places even have mandatory recycling programs. Junk removal companies are actively involved in reusing and recycling. These companies are very aware of the public's concern for the environment so they make reusing and recycling a big part of their business. Make sure you ask a junk removing company how much they recycle. You will feel good knowing that not all of the junk you are getting rid of will end up in a land fill.

Reducing, reusing, and recycling helps lessen our impact on the environment and benefits the community. With the help of environmentally conscious companies such as junk removal companies, we are decreasing the amount of waste going into landfills. By participating in the 3R program, you will feel good knowing that you are doing your part to leave a healthier planet for your children.

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The Environment of the EU Banking System

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Banks are defined as a business organisation that performs services in relation to money. Specifically is the process of keeping money for customers and paying it out on demand, in the form of deposits, borrowings and exchanges. It has become a cliché to note the revolutionary impact of information technology (IT) upon any industry, but the real upheaval lies just ahead. As experts back in the 90s stated, "If the number-crunching mainframe computers of the 1970s formed the childhood of IT, and the flowering of personal computers during the 1980s marked its youthful adolescence, then the 1990s seem likely to see the passage of IT into adulthood". As it has been foreseen, during the 21st Century, technology became directly related to almost every single activity and function of a bank. Deposits, withdrawals, loans, transfer of capital and updating are just some of the functions that are carried out electronically, as computers support communication networks or ATMs.

In the late 1990s, banks have come to realise even more and understand better the importance of technology since they have tried to take advantage of its progress. The computer sciences and all aspects in telecommunications, with particular emphasis on the Internet capabilities, constituted one of the most profitable areas banks decided to invest. These two fields of technology have had the greatest potential for growth and profitability. Currently, as the banks anticipate the rapid IT growth potentials, they continue to give a lot of emphasis on the technology of e-banking-the transactions with banks through Internet-and e-commerce of products and services. Noticeable is the fact that almost every bank in the globe currently offers e-banking services via their Internet links.

During the past ten years, a trend has emerged as major banks or groups of banks have formed alliances with companies in the telecommunications and computer sciences fields, or in other diverse industries. For example, in the UK, two Scottish banks have joined up with major supermarket chains in order to provide an outsourced banking function for the so-called supermarket banks. The motive for such kind of strategic decisions was the profit from a dynamic field that showed revenues increasing in a rapid rate.

Furthermore, it is true that the Banking Sector throughout Europe has gradually restructured itself in order to be able to meet the challenges provoked by the unification that has recently reached the milestone of twenty-five member states. Operating in this new environment, banks have to confront some major issues, such as the intensification of competition, the technology breakthroughs referring to transactions, the globalisation of capital and money markets, the development of management and administration, the extensive use of derivatives, the development of international transactions and the introduction of financial innovations. Thus, EU banks in order to cope with the fundamental forces mentioned above, are trying to find ways to improve their productivity and effectiveness, reduce their costs, upgrade the quality of the services they provide, intensify their presence in new markets, reduce the exchange risk, and finally achieve great macroeconomic stability.

Experts state that the upcoming changes will also force banks to reconsider their position in terms of effective bank size, economies of scale in the new environment, creation of a new powerful capital base, globalisation of the activities as well as of the wide variety of product/service lines they provide to customers. According to the estimations of "International Monetary Fund" and the "Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development", it is a fact that the banks have already invested significant capitals to new technology applications, while most have already introduced "personalized" services for their European or global customers.

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