According to the Southeastern Public Service Authority of Chesapeake, VA who deal in residential waste disposal and recycling, there are a number of ways to help your family from accumulating so much trash:
1. Don’t accept plastic bags when shopping. Use a canvas bag or carry the items out in your hands.
2. Buy products made of recycled materials whenever possible.
3. Buying in bulk doesn’t only use less packaging but is economical too!
4. Use concentrate for juices, soups, or laundry detergent. Again, it’s less packaging and economical!
5. Avoid excess packaging.
6. Use rags or sponges instead of paper towels. Use glass mugs instead of styrofoam cups. Use cloth napkins rather than paper ones.
7. Always choose refillable over non-refillable items. Pens, lighters, rechargeable batteries, razors and replaceable blades end up in the landfill otherwise.
8. Take care of your belongings and they will last longer. Furniture, appliances, and electronics can be recycled, rebuilt and refurbished. No need to toss them!
9. Rather than buy an item and discard it, consider renting or leasing.
10. Buy from thrift stores, garage sales, and consignment shops instead of buying new. Many items are gently used or still new.
11. Rather than discard clothes, furniture, toys, and books–donate them to charities. There is always someone in need who may not be able to afford new items.
12. Pack lunches in reusable containers instead of using paper and Ziploc bags.
13. Share a newspaper or magazine subscription with a neighbor or family member. That way, more than one person gets use out of an item.
15. Use the library as often as possible.
16. Donate magazines and books to jails, library sales, nursing homes, schools, charities, or local dentist and doctor’s offices.
17. Write on both sides of the paper.
18. Eliminate junk mail by removing your name from lists.
How do you keep things out of the trash? Share your ideas here!
Other articles about trash:
- Thursday is the Day I Take Out the Trash…. (craigmotor.wordpress.com)
- May the trash be with me….in a German Way (behindandafter.wordpress.com)
- Trash (gaijinmd.wordpress.com)
- May I take your trash? (csmonitor.com)
- If I can do it…: Greening the kids’ lunch boxes and kitchen waste (alaskaconservationblog.com)
- 10 Ways To Reuse Junk In The Garden (angelbabe432.wordpress.com)
- What does your city recycle? Not what you may think… (militaryzerowaste.wordpress.com)
- Going green in lunch containers (kitsapsun.com)
- what your trash says about you (bripblap.com)
- “That was such an epic fail…” – Katy Perry (militaryzerowaste.wordpress.com)
Attempting zero waste lifestyle in a military household 
Any food leftover goes either to donkeys, dogs or cat..so nothing ever wasted in food
Old bath towels are donated to dogs home as well as old blankets
We do not have plastic bags for items in supermarket.
Can’t think of anymore but thank you Jennifer for the list of do’s and don’ts
You sound like my kind of woman! I’m so proud of you. You inspire me so much Misswhiplash!
I love that there are no plastic bags for items in the supermarket where you are. I wish they’d implement that here.
Just some suggestions I found. They helped me. Wanted to pass them on. Thank you so much for reading them!
In Ireland the Government brought in a tax on plastic bags some years ago. It was the best thing they ever did. Now most people bring their own bags rather pay pay 22 cent for each bag.
What a genius idea! I like it. If we could only figure out how to start that here…..there’s gotta be a way.
Growing up in a family of nine, “going green” meant sorting through the box of relatives’ hand-be-downs to see what fit this year, wearing one set of after-school clothes all week, and having a color-coded washcloth, towel, cup and lunchbox (my color was red), three minute showers or three-inch bathtubs on Saturday and Wednesday nights. It’s easy to conserve when there’s never quite enough to go around. Americans are drowning in their own excess effluvia and not even appreciating the fact.
(I got two of your notes.Thanks a ton. I think wordpress bloggers have to sign out of wordpress before they can sign in to blogger. Rapidly getting disenchanted with blogspot.)
Well, shoot, Anne. You grew up green! I find the people who went without the most early in life, appreciate things more, later in life and are usually just better people in general. I love them! I liked the story of the color coded washclothes, towels, cups and lunchbox. Your mother had to be exceptionally organized I would imagine with such a large family.Blog spot is a little confusing, but I’ll try signing out next time and see if that works instead. I get so frustrated with this computer sometimes!I tried adding you on Twitter under #anneschroeder2 but it can’t find you. Do I have the name wrong?