50 Ways to Use Less, Waste Less

Trim your waste line.

January/February 2005
By Misty M. Lees 
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Plastics, Petrochemicals and Packaging

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• Learn to love your unique looks without cosmetics—others will too.

• Use less laundry detergent. Are your clothes really that dirty?

• Borrow books, CDs, DVDs, and video games from the library, rental store, or friends.

• Use fewer household cleaners. Try soap and water, baking soda, or vinegar instead.

• Skip prepared and frozen food. Make dinners from scratch; make lunches from leftovers.

Food and Land

• Buy produce from local farms, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), or co-ops.

• Choose beans over meat.

Gasoline

• Share a car. Visit Carsharing.net for info.

• Buy an alternative-fuel car as your next vehicle.

• Carpool, walk, bike, or ride a bus to work and on errands when possible.

• Use a push mower and trim bushes by hand.

• Shop online or by phone rather than drive around.

Building Materials

• Fix up an old house rather than build new.

• Clean out your garage, basement, and closets rather than buy a home with more space.

Stuff

• Avoid shopping for fun.

• Share a lawnmower and tools with your neighbors.

• Rent a truck, power tools, and camping equipment when the need arises from a rental company.

• Limit your holiday gift giving and make personal gifts like homemade bread.

• Shop at garage sales and thrift stores.

Create Less Trash

• Learn to do your own repairs rather than throw things away.

• Swap and recycle anything and everything you can; join Freecycle.org.

• Donate extra paint to graffiti abatement or urban renewal programs.

• Trade extra school supplies from last year; have a swap in your neighborhood.

• Give scrap lumber to scouts.

• Use raked leaves and cut grass as mulch.

• Throw vegetable and fruit scraps into compost.

Aluminum

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