Reduce Your Ecological Footprint - Avoid Trash

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Avoid creating trash wherever possible: Avoid consume beverages that came in a recycle package, instead, use your own glass, cup or bottle

When ordering food, avoid unnecessary plastic utensils, straws, etc.

Don't accept "free" promotional products; buy products with the least amount of packaging, etc.

The following tips will help you avoid making trash

1. No soda in cans
2. No water in plastic bottles
3. No coffee in disposable cups
4. No throwaway plastic razors and blade cartridges
5. No food in throwaway takeout tubs.
6. Taking our own reusable containers to takeout joints
7. Buying milk in returnable, reusable glass bottles.
8. Shopping for honey and pickled veggies and other goods in jars only from merchants who will take back the jars and reuse them.
9. Returning egg and berry cartons to the vendors at the farmers’ market for reuse.
10. Using neither paper nor plastic bags and bringing our own reusable bags when grocery shopping.
11. Canceling our magazine and newspaper subscriptions and reading online.
12. Putting an end to the junk mail tree killing.
13. Carrying my ultra-cool reusable cup and water bottle.
14. Carrying reusable cloths for everything from blowing my nose to drying my hands to wrapping up a purchased bagel.
15. Asking restaurant servers to take away paper and plastic napkins, placemats, straws, cups and single-serving containers.
16. Explaining to servers with a big smile that I am on a make-no-garbage kick.
17. Buying no candy bars, gum, lollypops or ice cream (not even Ben and Jerry’s peanut butter cup) that is individually packaged.
18. Making my own household cleaners to avoid all the throwaway plastic bottles.
19. Keeping a worm bin to compost our food scraps into nourishment that can be returned to the earth instead of toxins that seep from the landfills.
20. Not buying anything disposable.
21. Not buying anything in packaging (and count the money we save because that means pretty much buy nothing unless it’s second hand).
22. Shopping for food only from the bulk bins and from the local farmer’s market where food is unpackaged and fresh.
23. Forgetting about prepackaged, processed food of any description.
24. Being happy that the result is that we get to eat food instead of chemicals.
25. Giving our second-hand clothes away to Housing Works or other charities.
26. Offering products we no longer need on Freecycle instead of throwing them away.
27. Collecting used paper from other people's trash and using the other side.
28. Using old clothes for rags around the apartment instead of paper towels.
29. Talking with humor about what we’re doing because making a little less trash is a concrete first step everyone can take that leads to more and more environmental consciousness.

Every little bit of trash avoided does make a difference!