Greening the Garbage

Part of the Green and Frugal Series

Last week’s Earth Day post had some interesting comments and questions regarding green garbage practices. I have noticed that my attitude towards garbage has shifted, so that now I look for bulk packaging and notice the waste of things like small disposable containers more than I used to (I no longer by individual yogurt).  With more and more communities participating in recyclying programs, there are increasing ways to recycle items, especially aluminum cans, paper, and glass bottles. Each little bit helps. Interestingly, many developing countries are far more aware of ecological consequences of waste than the US.  When I was visiting Mexico, I saw a huge portion paper products made of recyclable materials and protocols for recycling.  In Bangladesh, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammed Yunnus is working with Danone to produce an edible container for single serving yogurt after observing that the waste created of millions of new consumers would be prohibitive. Here are some things to  consider in decreasing your garbage footprint:

–When purchasing something, consider the disposal consequences — look for things that have containers that are reusable or recyclable. When purchasing an item, don’t just consider the unit cost, but also the disposal features. Can it be washed and reused, repurposed in some fashion?

--Take advantage of recycling programs for electronic goods like old cellphones and computers — these items contain large amounts of heavy metals and other compounds that are less than desirable in landfill and groundwater. Many companies have set up recycling programs to deal with this.

–Look for hazmat disposal places for toxic items — one of the problems with Cfl lightbulbs is that they should not be disposed in the normal garbage. Many large grocery stores have a hazmat disposal kiosk adjacent to the facility.

–Help your sanitation workers by separating items appropriately — I see a lot of neighbors haphazardly putting glass in the aluminum bins, and plastic in the paper bins for recycling. The amount of post processing that has to be done by the workers adds to the cost of running the recycling program.

–Don’t take things you don’t need or won’t use — phone books are a good example. With most information available on the internet, I try to opt out of as many mailing lists and directories as possible.

–Become creative in reusing items– as kids, my brother and I built a birdfeeder out of a recycled orange juice container. I don’t think it tempted any birds (I seem to recall the dog became very interested since we put peanut butter as enticement) but it was a fun idea to reuse the carton. There are numeous crafty things that can be made from recyclable materials. Get creative!

shared at Works for Me Wednesday