Easy Steps You Can Take To Reduce Excess Waste In Your Life.
Want to do your part but not sure where to start? For my money, the best place to begin is to start reducing the amount of waste you create throughout the year. A reduction of the amount of things you throw away and/or recycle goes a long way towards helping to clean up the environment. Luckily, this is actually pretty easy to do, so there is no reason you couldn’t get started this afternoon. Let’s take a look at some easy steps you can take to reduce your impact on the environment. (And if you already know/do all of these, send this article to a friend or relative who could use some help!)
Think before you buy. Do you REALLY need whatever it is you are looking at? Can you wait and take a breather to stop the impulse buy at that moment? I am not saying not to go back later and get whatever it is, but even stopping a few impulse buys (x millions of people doing so) can drastically reduce the amount of trash you contribute to the waste stream.
When you do buy, buy well-made products. Too many of the things we buy are designed to have a very limited lifespan, which requires us to dispose of and replace them quite often. This is not sustainable behavior.
Simplify and pare down. Purchase items that serve dual purposes or at least can be reused as something else at the end of its useful lifespan.
Stop all your junk mail ASAP. Catalogs, credit card offers, coupon flyers, etc. – if you aren’t using them, make them stop. I no longer get any junk mail at my home, and often I go days without getting any mail at all. For help stopping the stream of paper waste coming into your home, check out the following sites:
Use paper towels sparingly, if at all. I have a drawer full of cloth rags and napkins that I use for cleaning the entire house with. I also use them to clean up any messes the cat makes. I do always have a roll of paper towels in the house just in case, but a single roll lasts me a very, very long time.
Buy in bulk when possible to reduce waste. Granted, I don’t need most of the food products sold in bulk at the neighborhood Costco. But I do take my own reusable containers to the grocery store for any spices, coffee, granola, fruit & vegetables so I don’t have to use those plastic bags they provide.
BYOB. There is absolutely no excuse anymore to not bring your own bags to the grocery store. Leave a few in your car at all time so you always have them with you. Looking for some good places to find bags? Check out my post Where to find cheap or free reusable bags for some help!
Stop drinking bottled water. Get yourself a good reusable water bottle and be done with that wasteful habit. Over 30 million plastic water bottles are thrown away (NOT recycled) each day!
Are each of these steps easily accomplished right away? Yep – every single one of them can be implemented starting today. And each of them are simple and will make a difference for yourself and the rest of us living on earth. Still not convinced that reduction isn’t the best way to start? Maybe you need to watch The Story Of Stuff, which I wrote about back in April. Go ahead, watch it…You will have a different view of how much impact waste has on our lives and planet.
Photo from Shutterstock
You may also like:
- Corporate Paper Waste: Comcast Sent Me 7 Letters Saying The Same Thing – In One Day.
- Use Less Stuff: Conserve Resources And Reduce Waste.
- 17 Easy Eco-Alternatives To Everyday Disposables.
- Census Pre-Notice: Government Waste At Its Finest.
- Hauling My Own Trash: Month One.
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A friend of mine takes reusable containers to restaurants for leftovers, which I thought was a great idea and one I hadn’t heard before.
I use plastic produce bags for packing my lunches, instead of buying baggies. I use them when I harvest my garden, too.
Yea, I have a friend who does that too. I always forget when I go out to eat – which is pretty rare anyway!
Buying quality definitely makes a difference. I only purchase (mostly used) furniture that’s make from wood, not pressed sawdust. Not only is it more aesthetically pleasing, but it last longer (many cases a lifetime) and the wook can be repurposed if necessary – unlike pressed wood.
I do the same thing with paper towels – one roll of them (recycled please!) will last months and months – I cringed when I had visitors over who grabbed handfuls of paper towels to wipe down the counters after dinner .
Other suggestions I have are bring your own mug or travel cup to the coffee shop (I work at one and we give discounts to those who bring their own cup) and more radically, consider using reusable menstrual products like the diva cup or washable cloth pads .
I think that we could all learn a little from this article on how to be more green.. Go Green…
The point about buying well-made products is very good and is often overlooked. It is especially good to do this with electronics, which create disposal problems, complicated by the fact that most people only keep them a couple years.
Bringing bags when shopping is also a must and is very easy … a few years ago I lived in Holland for a year and everyone does this there.