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Prevention Works - Start Today!
For more than a decade now, EPA has joined governments, communities and citizens taking part in National Pollution Prevention Week. Pollution prevention measures can protect the environment before pollution even begins, save energy and natural resources, and leave our homes, schools and workplaces cleaner and safer.
In 2008 National Pollution Prevention Week is September 15-21, and this year's theme,"Pollution Prevention - Where Sustainable Practices Begin," reminds us that preventing pollution is at the heart of sustainability. It's great to recycle and treat waste, but preventing pollution in the first place saves money and protects the environment.
Many of these Tips Are Based on Preventing Pollution -- Get Started Now!
| At Home | At Work | In the Garden | On the Road |
| Use less water, less energy, reduce your trash | Commute smarter, green your building, reduce, reuse, recycle | Spend less energy, resources, money on landscaping | Improve your mileage, use less gas |
Why is it so important to reduce the sources of pollution?
Reducing pollution before it ever gets to the environment is one of the most important ways to protect the environment. By reducing our energy and creating less waste, for example, we reduce the need for expensive environmental controls, treatment, disposal - and even cleanup. Pollution prevention has grown from a good idea many years ago to one of the principal ways our country protects the environment. As a result, our land, air and water are cleaner and safer. In the past decade, reductions from pollution prevention have been remarkable, for example, cutting billion pounds of hazardous materials, saving trillions of BTUs of energy, and conserving billions of gallons of water.
Pollution Prevention in Action at EPA
At EPA we too are reducing pollution at our office "home" by reducing our environmental impacts and preventing pollution. Our actions range from seeking sources of alternative energy to recycling and purchasing environmentally friendlier products. EPA is the first federal agency to purchase green power equal to 100 percent of its estimated annual electricity use nationwide. Read more about how EPA is going green.