I’m going prove to you how easy it is to go green. I’ll provide a little motivation in the form of big picture facts and figures to fill you in on why it’s worth it to go green. Then, I’ll provide you with some seriously simple tips and tools you can use that won’t stress you out! Ready?
Facts About Trash
According to the Environmental Protection Agency every person in the United States produces a little more than 4 pounds of garbage a day or 28 pounds per week. That adds up to over 251 tons of trash a year! In my house that could end up being 20 pounds of garbage a day…if I wasn’t doing something about it!
BTW – If you aren’t familiar with what happens to your trash once it leaves your house on trash day check out my post, “Where Does My Trash Go?”.
Reduce It
This may not or may not have occurred to you but you can reduce the amount of trash you bring into your house which will reduce the amount of trash you produce. Get it?!
One way to do this is to buy less stuff but I get it, we are a family of 5 and we really do need a lot of stuff!
However, you can make sure you are shopping in eco-friendly ways. For example, bring reusable shopping bags, use reusable produce bags, or choose the product with the packaging that is most recyclable. The point is, be aware of what you are buying and the trash that it will produce when you are done with it.
Reuse It
I know there are probably things in your home that you just want to get rid of. You just want the clutter gone and it’s sooooo easy to just dump it in the garbage can, right? Please don’t!!
(Remember to check out, “Where Does My Trash Go?” to check out where it all goes!)
There are so many ways to get rid of unused items whether it’s by donation to a local charitable organization, via a neighborhood list serv or at your church or school! Take a minute to skip the trash and get it reused!
Recycle It
You are probably doing some – or a lot – of recycling but can you do better?
Do you know what your community picks up curbside? Do you have a labeled bin for each recyclable and does your family know where the bins are and what goes in each one? Now get as much as you can into the bins and and NOT in the trash!
And, make sure you are sorting the trash from all areas of your home. There are a lot of things from the bathroom that can be recycled like toilet paper tubes, shampoo bottles, etc.
And, remember, it’s okay to rip apart packaging to separate the recyclable parts from the non-recyclable. A great example of this is a package of cotton swabs. The plastic shell isn’t recyclable but the paper backing absolutely is!
Finally, for items that your community does not recycle hope is not lost. There are often other alternatives that may even be in your community. Great places to check are Earth911 as well as your local division of solid waste.
Seriously Easy, Right?
These couldn’t be easier, right? Many of these tips cost nothing and some of them require a teeny bit of effort on your part but none of them are actually difficult. Can you take on ONE of these seriously easy ways to live a little greener and reduce waste??
