Reduce
One of the easiest ways to be a good environmental citizen is to reduce, or cut back, in key areas of your life. Three of the most important resources you can reduce your consumption of are:
Here’s a quick breakdown of how reducing affects these areas:
- Energy—Energy is generated and consumed with most activities, and it often results in releasing carbon into the environment. In addition, there is a finite amount of energy available from traditional (non-renewable) methods such as coal and oil. Developing alternative, renewable energies (such as solar, wind and geothermal) helps to reduce our dependence on non-renewable resources to power our lives.
- Water—Water covers 71 percent of the Earth’s surface, but relatively little is suitable for consumption. In many parts of the world, drinkable water is in very short supply. Every time a drop of water goes down the drain, it becomes unsuitable for consumption unless properly treated.
- Solid Waste—There is only so much room available for solid waste disposal, and because landfills are so tightly packed, it takes a great deal of time for material to decompose. The easiest way to reduce solid waste is to reduce your consumption of daily products. Be cautious of what you buy, and whether anything you are going to put in a trash can really belongs there.
Communities as well as individuals are always looking for new ways to address the concern of reduction in the above areas. The most common form is found in household waste and recycling. For example, a new type of waste reduction program is being explored known as a Pay-as-You-Throw (PAYT) trash collection program. Residents will pay a fee per bag of garbage instead of a lump sum for the service. In turn, the curbside recycling program component is offered at no charge or a reduced fee.
The ideal outcome of PAYT is that residents will start recycling more in an effort to save money. According to the EPA, about 75 percent of what is found in the average garbage can is recyclable, so a PAYT program rewards people who choose alternative forms of disposal for this content, such as curbside recycling or composting.
There are several ways to reduce waste:
* Decrease the quantity and toxicity of trash you throw away and reuse containers and products.
* Recycle as much as you can and purchase products with recycled content.
* Practice composting to decompose organic waste, such as food scraps and yard waste.
The concept of reduce, reuse, and recycle is just as vital for household hazardous waste and industrial materials.
* Household Hazardous Waste: Improper disposal of household products containing corrosive, toxic, ignitable, or reactive ingredients can pollute the environment and endanger human health.
* Industrial Materials: Industrial non-hazardous wastes that can be recycled and reused are essential to a successful resource conservation program.
Reuse
Reuse is simply the act of finding a second (or third, or tenth or hundredth) use for a product to prolong its life. Reuse is an important step after you've already reduced, but before you are ready to recycle.
Reuse is a process that many of us already implement in our everyday lives without realizing it. Any time you buy or sell a product second-hand, such as from Craigslist, eBay or Goodwill, you are providing an additional use for this product, while at the same time, not requiring another one to be created.
The important thing to consider when you want to reuse is that "creativity is king" in the process. The creativity also provides the opportunity to be thrifty, by reusing what you already have for new, innovative purposes.
Recycle
Recycling is the process of taking a product at the end of its useful life and using all or part of it to make another product. The internationally recognized symbol for recycling includes three arrows moving in a triangle. Each arrow represents a different part of the recycling process, from collection to re-manufacture to resale. Recycling reduces our waste sent to landfills, and making new products out of recycled ones reduces the amount of energy needed in production.
The U.S. EPA estimates that 75 percent of our waste is recyclable, which goes well beyond what you toss in your recycling bin at home or at school. Recycling serves two key purposes:
- It keeps valuable material such as aluminum and paper out of landfills, so this material can be reused in other forms and not wasted.
- It prevents hazardous materials and chemicals such as lead and mercury from ending up in landfills, which can contaminate soil and leach into our drinking water
Because of the second purpose, it's important to recycle lots of products, including those that you might not initially think of recycling. This includes batteries, electronics, motor oil, paint and any product that has "Caution" or "Warning" on the label.
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Efficiency Vermont has launched a refrigerator recycling program that offers free pick up of old, energy-wasting refrigerators and freezers, a $30 rebate check, utility bill savings and state-of-the-art recycling of the appliances.
Currently, this is a pilot program; it will extended to the entire state in 2010. Visit the website to see if you are a resident of a participating town.
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According to a note in the February 2009 edition of "Waste Age" magazine, "Best Buy, Minneapolis, expanded its electronics recycling service to all of its 1,006 stores and will expand the service to its stores in Puerto Rico by 2010." |
Want to turn your empty medicine bottle or used Brita filter into a toothbrush? Preserve can do that for you.
As a producer of recycled personal-care and kitchen products, Preserve has partnered with Stonyfield Farms for many years, refashioning its organic yogurt containers into a line of recycled plastic toothbrushes, razors, mixing bowls, food-storage containers, and more.
As of January 2009, Preserve has expanded its collection efforts with its new "Gimme 5" program, allowing you to recycle all of your #5 plastic – whatever its origin -- into Preserve products.
Mail your plastics directly to Preserve, or deliver them to participating Whole Foods Markets, which are serving as collection centers.
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If your town doesn't have a PAYT system for garbage disposal, it may institute it in the near future. This YouTube video explains the concept clearly.
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