If you find yourself taking out loads of trash every week, you might
benefit from these suggestions for a healthier, more eco-friendly, and
more inexpensive household. We all know the mantra "reduce, reuse,
recycle," but here are some practical tips for how to do so on a daily
basis.
1. Reduce
A healthy diet yields the least garbage.
Aside from being bad for our health, processed foods also tend to have
an excessive amount of packaging. If you're cooking from scratch, there
should be few items on your grocery list which fall under the
"cellophane wrapped box containing a plastic-wrapped box of other
plastic wrapped-boxes" category. However, even the diehard whole-foodist
can stand some reduction tips: buy loose rather than prewrapped or
boxed fruits and veggies, and bring your own bags to sort and carry them
in. If possible, buy your grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes from a bulk
distributor such as the Fourth Street Food Co-op (many health food
stores also have bulk bins), and bring your own containers. Buying from
bulk bins tends to be less expensive, too. Compost your vegetable scraps
if possible. Ditch the Vitamin Waters and sports drinks and go for the
stir-in packets of Emergen-C, which have a much higher vitamin content,
are lower in sugar, use less plastic, and are cheaper. Get a water
filter for your home and PLEASE don't buy bottled water-- it is
hideously overpriced, often exploited from regions where people can't
afford clean water, and the standards for its cleanliness are dubious at
best. Finally, switch to reusable cleaning rags (Trader Joe's sells
some good ones or an old facecloth will do) instead of constantly using
paper towels, ditch your overpriced Swiffer products (some of which are
reportedly toxic to pets) and sweep and mop the old-fashioned way
(really, it doesn't take any longer), and consider making some of your
own cleaning supplies.
2. Reuse
There is very little in my
house which doesn't get used twice. Peanut butter jars get scrubbed out
and double as travel mugs for coffee, smoothies, or soup. Old clothes
too decrepit for the Salvation Army get cut up for cleaning rags.
Plastic bags from bread or tortillas get rinsed out and reused as
sandwich bags. Plastic bags from anything else get used for doggie duty
or as trash bags for the bathroom or bedroom cans. Recently a new trend
has popped up where take-out food no longer comes in a paper box but in a
plastic tupperware-style container (really makes you wonder if anyone
realizes we have a global environmental crisis when MORE plastic items
seem to pop up at every moment.) In any event, hopefully other people
are doing what I am and reusing, rather than disposing of, these new
takeout boxes. They do work well for lunches.
3. Recycle
Each
region is slightly different in terms of what can be recycled, but
basically most plastic, glass, metal, and paper items can and should go
in the recycling bin. NYC has those helpful refrigerator magnets which
indicate what can be recycled and in what category. One little-known
tip, however: an item which is NOT recycled in NYC is plastic bottle
caps, whether from drinks, toothpaste, milk, etc. However, the skin-care
company Aveda will accept these plastic lids and uses them to make
containers for their products. The caps can be dropped off at any Aveda
store. I usually go to the one in the Columbus Circle mall. Just throw
your caps in a drawer in your kitchen and then make a delivery every few
months! Sometimes Aveda even has free tea for your efforts :)
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