Waste Reduction at Home Waste Reduction at Work Waste Reduction at School Facts, Stats and Quotes Links Tips

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Be a SMART shopper – Save Money And Reduce Trash

» Buy only what you need.

» Buy reusable rather than single-use products.

» Buy durable, repairable products.

» Repair old items and use them again.

» Purchase products that can be recycled locally or that contain recycled materials.

Be even SMARTer—put less packaging in your shopping cart. You’ll stretch your food dollars and the life of landfills.

» Purchase products in refillable of reusable containers.

» Choose products with the least amount of packaging.

» Buy fresh produce without packaging.

» Buy concentrates, larger-sized containers, or buy in bulk.

» Avoid individually-wrapped or single-serving products.

» Bring your own shopping bag to the store.

In the Kitchen

» Compost all of your fruit and vegetable peelings. It's fun…it’s easy…and can reduce your household's garbage by 30%. For composting information, click here.

» Use plastic shopping bags instead of purchasing kitchen garbage bags that you will just throw out.

» Store left-overs in reusable containers.

» Use cloth bags or lunch boxes instead of paper bags.

» Use cloth napkins, cloths, sponges and towels instead of paper towel and napkins.

» Use an erasable note board instead of paper notes

In the Bathroom

» Use cloth diapers instead of disposables.

» Ditch the disposable razors for one with replaceable cartridges.

» Buy unbleached, recycled paper products.

» Buy shampoo, conditioner and other products in refillable bottles.

» Return leftover medications to the drug store for proper disposal. Some pharmacies also recycle the containers.

In the Garden and Yard

» Use compost in your garden and on your lawn instead of commercial fertilizers.

» Choose natural alternatives to insecticides and pesticides.

» Grasscycle! Leaving your lawn clippings on your grass not only fertilizes the lawn, it also reduces the amount of clippings that go into the landfill... And it takes LESS work!

» Return plastic pots and trays to the nursery where they can be reused.

» Rent any equipment that you don't use often.

Other Ideas

» Put a "no junk mail" sticker on your mail box to avoid having it overflowing with flyers.

Note: since "PRRDy Says…" newsletter is classified as unaddressed admail, putting a "No Junk Mail" sticker on your mail box means that you won't receive your copy.

Contact Waste Reduction Office to be put on the mailing list.

» To reduce unwanted addressed mail, write

Canadian Marketing Association
P.O. Box 706
Don Mills, ON
M3C 2T6

www.the-cma.org

» Write to manufactures and suggest that they:

• Redesign product or packaging to eliminate excessMake products that are repairable, more durable and longer lasting.
• Use recycled materials whenever possible.

» Ask store managers to carry products that create less waste or in locally recyclable packaging.

» Ask the Waste Reduction Office to hold workshops on composting, green shopping and other topics.

» Contact the Waste Reduction Office for free brochures on backyard composting, worm composting and waste prevention ideas that you can practice at work.

» Share your waste reduction idea. Email prrdy@telus.net