Ten Tips to Minimize Trash

From aluminum foil to sofas, Americans pile almost five pounds of stuff into the trash each day. Not only are we throwing away money by tossing things we've once paid for into the trash, but we are consuming the natural resources used to make them, the clean air that becomes polluted in that very process, and the infinite fields of land that holds these discarded things. While we cannot eliminate the need to discard things completely, we can make some major improvements to the way we handle trash. By doing so, we can help to offer items to people who would appreciate them, make some extra money for ourselves, and more importantly, save a little bit of our Earth in the process. Here are just a few ways we can decrease the size of trash bags:

1. For furniture items, call your local charitable organizations such as Habitat for Humanity. Many times they will come to pick these items up for you. If the items are broken, consider repairing them. You can give these items away for free, or try selling them. Whether you donate them to charity or make a couple of extra bucks by selling them, you win.

2. Clothes can be sewn, dyed, and handed down. Many of the clothes that are thrown away each year would be perfectly suitable for people who are in need of decent clothing. Consider dropping them off at a Salvation Army. You may even be able to make some extra money for taking them to a thrift store or a consignment shop.

3. Have a yard sale (or even do an online auction)!! Don't throw away your dusty candle holders, bleach-faded beach towels, or your beloved pet's collars. You'd be surprised at how many people will pay some change or even a couple of dollars for those odds and ends that have been stuffed in storage bins or in your junk drawers for the past ten years.

4. Be "trash conscious" when shopping. Look at the packaging to decide whether you're essentially paying for a bunch of trash. Buy bigger packages and freeze portions of the food. Buy foods in containers that you can reuse for other things such as craft items. Finally, bring your own shopping bags!! It's a fairly common practice in European countries for shoppers to bring their own shopping bags (usually large canvas bags) with them, or they'll have to pay an extra fee for each plastic bag that is used. If you're worried that the store you shop at won't allow this practice, call them in advance to ask. More than likely, they'll see no problem with it. You'll avoid the environmentalist conundrum of paper vs. plastic. If you get paper, you're killing trees, and if you get plastic, you're filling the landfills with material that doesn't break down so easily.

5. Use your trash in creative ways! If you do have plastic baggies from shopping, you can save them to use as trash bags. Save your paper towel rolls, or aluminum foil rolls, and squish the plastic baggies into them to save space. Use glass jars from pickles, Etc, to store things such as screws, craft items, and even pens and pencils.

6. Don't use disposable things too often. Instead of using paper towels for everything, use a regular dish towel. Use cloth napkins. For pic-nics, you may wish to use plastic plates and cups, but these can be washed and stored for the next pic-nic or outdoor event. Make your own TV dinners by cooking those kinds of meals and freezing them in reusable plastic containers rather than buying those dinners and having that trash each time you use them. If you do buy them, you can reuse the plastic plates that come with them for feeding pets, for kids' lunches, or for storage trays.

7. Recycle. Whatever you don't reuse that can be recycled, throw in the recycle bin. Pretty simple.

8. For electronic items that work but are old or outdated, you can find a lot of organizations and schools that may accept them as donations. Some items such as computers can be refurbished, so you might even be able to sell them to people who specialize in older electronics. For those electronic items that don't work, your waste management company might have recycling programs or may be able to refer you to one. Also, don't count out selling them or donating them to be used for their parts. A lot of components of electronic equipment can pose a hazardous threat to the environment. Do everything you can to avoid chucking them in the trash.

9. For toys, especially larger toys such as bicycles and riding toys, do what you can to restore them and donate them to local shelters, advocacy programs, and Etc. Of course, as with anything, you may find people in your own family who may have children who can use them. If they don't work, or if they are broken beyond repair, be sure to find out if any parts of them can be recycled. If you are handy with tools or know someone who is, being creative with the parts in decorating a house or a child's room (keeping safety in mind), can be a fun way to minimize the amount of the toys that go in the trash.

10. Make some artwork with the items! Thoroughly cleaning some of your trash items, preferably right after using them, and displaying them on a mat can be a great way to get the family thinking about waste. Egg cartons and pie pans can be used to make a pretty waste basket (ironic, I know). Just cut the cartons so that the egg bubble-sides are all you have. Glue or staple them together vertically into a circle, and attach them to a pie pan. Glass jars filled with sea shells can become the base of a lamp. Paper products with images can be used to make some interesting scrapbooks. Using the cardboard from boxes, some twine, fancy paper, and lace, you can create a very pretty diary or keepsake book.

Overall, just be aware of what you are throwing away! Know what you can use again, what you are buying, and what ways you can decrease the amount of trash you have. Selling, donating, refurbishing, redesigning, and sharing things can make a major impact on the amount things you throw away. There are many ways you can reuse the items that contained the product you originally bought, and there are many ways that other people can use the things that no longer fit into your life