Saturday 30 June 2012

0 Waste: weekly theme June 30 - July 7

One of my goals in having a smaller impact on the earth is to produce zero garbage. Is it possible? Yes. Here's how... 

 Reduce 

  • Buy less. Be aware of what you are buying: can its packaging be easily recycled, or even better, reused? 

 Reuse 

  • Compost: Start your own compost to use for your organic garden or, if you do not have a garden, lobby your local government to establish the Zero Waste initiative. Zero Waste has played a significant role in reducing the amount of waste filling our landfill by giving each household a small bucket that collects table scraps and soiled paper products to be collected alongside our garbage on garbage pickup day and from there be made into compost. Check out the entire game plan: http://www.beyondcomposting.ca/ 
  • Reusable Convenience: You can reuse many used products such as bags and food containers. Be creative, be cheap, be considerate. 
  • Get crafty: reuse products when your done with them for crafts. Here's an awesome website featuring crafts made from recyclable objects: http://spoonful.com/crafts/recyclable-projects#carousel-id=content-carousel&carousel-item=2 

Recycle 

  • You can recycle almost anything nowadays. Check out your local recycling depot.

 

Bea Johnson is the author of the blog Zero Waste Home.

 

Here are 10 things that the Johnson family does regularly to reduce waste.

1. Bring glass jars, totes, cloth bags, and cartons to the grocery store to carry food.
2. Buy in bulk. It eliminates packaging and can be more economical in the long run.
3. Refill clean empty wine bottles at local wine bottling events instead of buying new ones.
4. Use microfiber cloths instead of paper towels.
5. Consolidate multiple cleaning products into one or two cleaners that do the job just as well -- or, better still, make your own multipurpose cleaner. Johnson uses only one cleaner for everything in the house -- a combination of vinegar, water and castile soap.
6. Use handkerchiefs instead of paper tissues.
7. When buying makeup products, choose a company that takes its packaging back and recycles it. Johnson suggests Mac Cosmetics as one example.
8. Only recycle paper if it's been printed on both sides. Otherwise, use the blank side for making lists or jotting down notes.
9. Use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins.
10. When packing a lunch, wrap sandwiches or other food in a cloth napkin instead of using wax paper, plastic wrap or plastic bags.

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