Brasília, 7/20/2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - An expert at the Consumer Defense Association (Associação Brasileira de Defesa do Consumidor), Marcelo Dias da Cunha, speaking on the Radio Nacional AM "Daily Life" (Cotidiano) program, declared that it is important to make people aware of the need to produce less trash. "This is something that has to begin in the supermarket when people buy things. It is exactly when people buy things that they begin creating waste," said Cunha.

He went on to explain that packaging is one of the big villians in the tidal wave of garbage that characterizes modern life. Packaging should follow the three-R rule: reduction, reusage and recycling, he said. "We need to look for goods with packaging that can be reused, is not too big and can be recycled." People can take carts to the supermarkets and reduce the amount of plastic bags they need, separate types of garbage and use leftover packaging in their homes, says Cunha.

Translator: Allen Bennett