Gaga Over Garbage

We all know we are supposed to reduce, reuse and recycle and many of us have the little separator bins in the house or take our plastic bottles and bundled newspapers to the local recycling plant. We certainly try to process waste that comes into our homes. But how to reduce the amount of waste in the first place? Offsetting carbon is a great thing but reducing waste is one of the major goals of this green evolution.

First, I have to concentrate on the three R’s and really think about what they mean to me.

Recycle. Well I know what that means. It means put glass jars in one bin, plastic bottles in another and food waste somewhere else (preferably on a home compost heap). But perhaps instead of heading off to the local made anywhere but here super mart to buy cute color coordinated recycling bins, I should find a way to recycle something I already have. Because recycling doesn’t always mean sending stuff off to a factory to be transformed into a new product. I can in fact do it myself, reducing my carbon footprint at the same time as I get ready to reduce my carbon footprint. Genius.

Cardboard boxes, milk crates, old file folder boxes (the ones with the handles), large product packaging or any reasonably sturdy already existing container can act as a recycling bin. Stick a label on it and whalaa! Recycling center.

Okay next I have to reduce the amount of things that I put in my recycling center. So if I can’t avoid buying certain things, I have to try and reduce the packaging they come in. I can buy in bulk loose foods. That will reduce the amount of cans, bottles and plastic containers I bring into the home. I can use cloth grocery bags and reduce the number of plastic bags in my house I have to find another use for (in my case, small garbage can bags, diaper bags, package filler). If I buy larger amounts of the same thing instead of a number of smaller items over a longer period of time, I reduce the amount of consumer packaging in my home.

Reusing is my absolute favorite way to recycle. I try and find at least one more use for any item, container, packaging or product I bring into my home. This is the way poor Irish writers like myself can actually help the planet. I can’t afford solar panels on the roof or build a windmill in the backyard (I don’t actually have a backyard) and there is no room in this apartment for bamboo flooring but getting more than one use out of something? My specialty. From clothes (second hand that later become cleaning cloths or fabric scraps for crafting) and packaging (glass candle jars with lids are great for herbs and spices) to re-purposing old furniture and saving things from the trash, reusing is a great way to offset carbon, restore balance to our crazy modern consumer lives and most of all save money.

Yep. Saving green by being green: makes me go gaga over garbage.