Reduce or Reuse

Reduce, reuse, and recycle. These 3 terms go hand in hand, but do we really know their impact, or how to do them?

How to Reduce: Cutting down on waste.

To reduce is the act of making/using a smaller amount of something.

The average person makes about 4.5 pounds of trash per day. That’s a lot! The first step in following the 3 R’s is to reduce the amount of waste made. Start out by making small changes around the house.

Here are a few tips:

• Use reusable grocery bags for every trip to the store. This cuts down on the amount of plastic being brought into a household. P.s. stores like Target sometimes doc .5 cents off when customers use their own bags.
• Avoid buying plastic water bottles in bulk. Invest in a couple of reusable bottles and store them in the fridge. Again, less plastic, less money.
• Instead of throwing out old, dingy looking furniture, turn it into a project! A couple cans of varnish, and a couch cover can make a living room look brand new!
• Instead of buying a new pack of plastic bags every week, pack away food in washable containers. No trash, and no broken chips!

 How to Reuse

To reuse is the act of using something more than once.

The average American worker disposes of about 500 paper cups per year. Imagine if just two people brought their own reusable cup to the office instead. That’s cutting out 1,000 pieces of trash!

Here are a few tips:

• Buy reusable items, instead of disposable items.
• Keep glass containers for arts and crafts with the kids, or reuse to keep leftovers, homemade jams, and homemade beauty products. The possibilities are endless!
• Use both sides of paper when printing, and reuse the blank side of old documents. (That’s what we do here at eco18!)

Recycling

To recycle means to convert waste into reusable materials.

What are the benefits?

There’s a ton! Recycling…

• Prevents pollution
• Reduces the amount of waste being brought to landfills
• Conserves natural resources
• Saves money
• Saves energy
• Reduces harmful/greenhouse gases that add to global climate change
• Helps sustain the environment

Have any more tips for recycling?