We have all heard of the three R’s:

Reduce - Reuse - Recycle

Recycling is a no-brainer. At this point it has been made fairly mainstream and requires minimal effort to separate what we throw out, though some municipalities additionally require sorting. For this task I find it easiest to keep smaller, individual paper bags/ trash cans alongside the regular trash can; one for plastic/ glass/ aluminum and the other for paper. When they’re full, they get emptied into the appropriate receptacles outside in the alley. Some people simply set recycling aside to take out at the end of the day. The key is to find what works for your living situation and to try and simplify it. From food containers to beauty supplies, laundry detergent bottles, junk mail and old newspapers/ magazines, product packaging is becoming increasingly recyclable.  The trick is to take inventory of what you use, and try to recycle it all - or at least as much as possible.  And be sure to check with your municipality for a list of what is recyclable; most of this information is easily found online.

Some items you can even “recycle” by re-using within your household, such as glass/ plastic food containers to store leftovers, newspapers as mess-mats for gardening/ craft projects, and scrap paper can be cut into squares and re-used for notes/ grocery lists. Some lotion/ other beauty product containers make good hair accessory holders, or can be used to store homemade bath salts/ teas/ potpourri. That pair of nylons that sprung a run can be cut into rings and used as hair elastics, or strips and used for staking/ tying back plants in the garden. Packaging, wrapping paper and cards can all be re-used and cut up to make new cards/ wrapping paper/ various other arts & crafts projects. Packaging is actually my biggest pet peeve; items are increasingly wrapped in more and more layers of needless waste. Yet this is a perfect example of ‘less is more’ for consumers, manufacturers and the environment; manufacturers save money by using less packaging, it’s less strain on natural resources, and it’s less hassle and waste for everyone else.

As for reducing, this requires a little more effort and is made especially hard by our consumer mentality and notions that “bigger is better.” But there are some simple areas that we can all relate to and address here; the rest is ultimately up to you to determine on a personal basis.

• Transportation - can you walk/ bike/ take public transit instead of driving?
• Shopping - can you reduce fuel, packaging and waste? Can you buy it concentrated? Is there a local option? Is the packaging reusable or biodegradable? Is there a manufacturer that invests in sustainable business practices?
• Energy - turn the lights off when you leave a room, use cold water instead of hot to wash clothes, weatherstop your windows in the winter if you live in a cold climate, use cotton towels in lieu of paper towels to dry hands in the bathroom and kitchen, if you’re a homeowner consider investing in a solar hot water heater, etc.
• Chemicals - are there natural/ plant-based alternatives? (think detergents, cleaners, soaps, disinfectants, chlorine-free bleach, etc.) Does it contain parabens (cancer-causing preservatives)?

Beginning to think like this doesn’t happen overnight. But if you start off at a smaller scale and select just one or a few items you regularly use and explore how that choice could make the least impact on the environment, you begin to get into the habit of asking these questions. Soon it becomes second nature. And in this economy, it’ll save you money too - even more reason to ponder the options.

Tags: recycling, reduce, reuse, sustainable

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 at 11:45 pm and is filed under Lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.