Today is Blog Action Day so I plan on providing some of the small things that contribute to reducing my impact on the environment.

I try to use my local library as much as a I possibly can. Using the library has many environmental, economic and social benefits:

• Most suburbs/areas have a local library. This means you don’t need to travel very far to borrow books.
• Libraries are free to use and therefore economical (I understand libraries are funded by council rates, but you do pay these whether or not you borrow from the library!)
• Borrowing books is the ultimate form of recycling. I usually only read most books once so it makes sense to borrow them. Less books would need to be printed if more people borrowed books from libraries.
• Libraries have a large variety of books across the various branches, much larger than a retail book store. You can easily find some old lost gems for loan that are well and truly no longer for sale.
• Every time you read a really good book you can be happy to know that many other people before you have read that exact same book.
• Libraries offer social clubs as well as an environment to enjoy without material or commercial solicitation.
• Reading books makes you smarter and more of an interesting person.
• Libraries offer more than just books: cds, dvds, magazines.