Once upon a time Jimmy had a mother who told him that he was good at music. Jimmy wanted to play music. He did not know which instrument to play, so he tried a piano first. The piano went like a sound. Then he tried a guitar. The guitar played. His brother told him that the piano was better to start, so Jimmy played the piano. He hammered on the keys. Jimmy's brother liked this, but mom did not like this. Jimmy tried playing very quiet. Jimmy's mom liked this, but Jimmy's brother did not like this. Jimmy tried playing in the middle. Jimmy liked this, and Jimmy's mom liked this, and Jimmy's brother liked this. It was great.

What were the two instruments Jimmy played?

Reducing resource use means just what it says using fewer resources. There are lots of ways to reduce our use of resources. Buy durable goods. Choose items that are well made so they will last longer. Youll buy fewer items in the long run, so youll save money as well as resources. Thats a win-win! Repair rather than replace. Fix your bike rather than buying a new one. Sew on a button instead of buying a new shirt. Youll use fewer resources and save money. Buy only what you need. Dont buy a gallon of milk if you can only drink half of it before it spoils. Instead, buy a half gallon and drink all of it. You wont be wasting resources (or money!) Buy local. For example, buy local produce at a farmers market, like the one in Figure 2.20. A lot of resources are saved by not shipping goods long distances. Products bought at farmers markets use less packaging, too! About a third of what we throw out is packaging.

How can you reduce the use of resources by buying local?

Gravitational Potential Energy is affected by position. Like the leaves on trees, anything that is raised up has the potential to fall. It has potential energy. You can see examples of people with gravitational potential energy in 1.5 Figure below. Gravitational potential energy depends on two things. It depends on its weight, because a large falling rock can do more damage than a leaf falling from a tree. It also depends on its height above the ground. Like the skateboarder, the higher the ramp, the faster he will be going when he reaches the bottom. Like all energy, gravitational potential energy has the ability to do work. In this case, weight has the potential to deliver a force. More important for us is that it has the ability to cause change. What kind of change you may ask? Gravitational potential energy has the ability to cause motion.
What does gravitational potential energy depend on?