The average American produces an estimated 4 pounds of trash per day. That’s a lot of garbage for one person, even when you only take out the trash once or twice per week. Unfortunately, you can’t recycle or compost everything, so you might have an excess of trash. But don’t worry – you can reduce your trash output by following these three actionable tips.
Recycle and buy things that can be recycled
Every day, millions of plastic bottles, cans, and other materials are thrown away, ending up in landfills. Almost every plastic water bottle in the United States ends up in a landfill.
We all want to reduce our impact, but it’s hard to know what can and can’t be recycled, or what things are best to buy because they’re recyclable. There are a lot of reasons to recycle: it’s good for the environment, saves resources, and even creates jobs.
You’d be surprised what can and can’t be recycled. Those symbols on plastics don’t always mean it’s recyclable – only what type of plastic it is. Certain areas of the country only accept certain types of plastic.
Reuse glass jars
Glass is one of the most reusable materials we have. Whether you are an oatmeal fan, drinking your smoothies from the bottle or you just like to cook with them on the grill, glass jars make perfect containers. You will find glass jars in most grocery stores. Reusing glass jars to store your foods or other items means you only need one jar for a week’s worth of food and one jar to throw away. It also saves you money.
When glass jars can’t be used, you may be surprised to see them on the bottom shelf of the recyclers, instead of in the recycling. Keep a few jars around your home to use as containers for different types of food. They are good for storing vegetables or eggs, for example. You can also clean and reuse a glass jar for many things.
Buy in bulk to reduce packaging
The first thing you want to do when you can is buy in bulk. Buying in bulk can reduce the amount of packaging you have to throw away. When you buy in bulk, you don’t have to waste money on individual packages. You can purchase in bulk all of your cleaning products or bulk spices. The more products you buy in bulk, the less you will waste. Reduce the packaging Reduce the amount of packaging you throw out. As mentioned before, when you buy in bulk you can buy the amount of packaging you need to buy. This saves you a lot of money by not having to pay as much for individual items.
Conclusion
The amount of trash we produce has increased over the years and it’s difficult to stem this steady flow. Many people get this wrong – they get caught up in how their living style is impacting the earth and instead of finding other ways to reduce the amount of trash, they throw themselves into what many people call the “treadmill of consumerism.” When you think about it, it’s a quite silly idea. We have more resources than ever before, there are ways to reduce our consumption and waste, but people are often in the mindset that they have to buy the latest gadgets to achieve the right kind of lifestyle. The quickest way to achieve the lifestyle of your dreams is to reduce your trash output. And it doesn’t have to be hard or costly.