How do you reduce/reuse/recycle? [General]

2010 Jun 28
I have been a long-time recycler however I am now thinking about ways I can reduce my waste. I am now challenging myself to go as green as possible. I still dispose of alot of my waste either in the garbage can or recycling bin but I am trying to think of other ways I can reuse things or better still reduce my waste.

So far this is what I am doing.

I recycle the following items:

• Plastic containers and glass jars (I use some for storing leftovers or pantry items, if I have too many I place the surplus in the recycling bin)
• Plastic juice glasses
• Kleenex boxes
• Toilet paper rolls
• Paper towel rolls

I reuse the following items:

• Glass jars for storing rice, beans, cereal, etc.
• Plastic containers to store leftovers in the fridge or freezer (if I have too many they go in the recycling bin)
• Ziploc baggies (I reuse a few times then throw out)

Reduce

• Give fruit and veggie peelings to a coworker who composts
• I buy milk and yogurt from a place that takes the jars back
• I bag my purchases in recyclable grocery bags
• I hang my clothes on the hangers that I get from the
drycleaners and I give the ones I don't need to a thrift shop (they sell
clothes so they are always looking for hangers to hang the clothes on)
• I am using reusable lunch dishes (Rubbermaid and Tupperware) as often as possible

My goals for this year are to use reusable dishcloths and to look into taking my own containers to stores for items I buy in bulk.

So, ottawafoodies, what are others doing?

2010 Jun 28
Here is where I can see you can further reduce : get rid of the kleenex (use handkerchiefs) and paper towel (see recent thread on that).

Ziploc baggies is one I am having a lot of trouble getting completely rid of but I'm getting there slowly.

I'll put some more thought into it and give another response.

2010 Jun 28
Thanks! I will definitely have to use hankies instead of kleenex and I could use sponges or rags made from old t-shirts instead of paper towels. These are great ideas to start off with.

I threw in the ziploc bag idea because I still use them albeit not very often. I have been trying to use reuseable containers whenever possible.

2010 Jun 28
For the plastic containers, depending on what they are, the local food banks use them (large margarine, yogurt containers with the lids) for distributing foods that they get in bulk (eg. flour). You could contact your local one and see if they can use them.

2010 Jun 29
A few more comments after thinking more about this.

I try to focus on what I'm NOT doing, rather than what I AM doing. Since really, it is far more important. I'm forever aware of what is going into my garbage, recycling and green bins, to see how I can do better.

As for plastic and metals recycling the vast majority of that is our juice cans and bottles, and the only way we can reduce that is to reduce our intake of those. We already mix juices 1 part juice to 2 or 3 parts water, though, so it would be difficult to do. Though not impossible. And it still shocks me how many of them we have every 2nd week.

The majority of our green bin waste is coffee grounds, and the only way to reduce that is to reduce intake, sadly. Whenever we have meat, I save the pan drippings or similar and store them in the fridge to use somehow. You can use the same trick as the one I posted about fryer oil, where you boil it in the MW briefly in a mason jar, then seal and put in the fridge. Will keep for a very long time like that. Great for adding flavour to all sorts of recipes.

I also try to save all meat fat in a bag in the freezer - even small amounts. It adds up, and eventually when there is enough I can do something with it. Render it either for human consumption, or making bird feeders or camp fire starters. Same for bones and such - save them up and at least boil them down for broth before tossing them out.

But that is what I do, and not what I do not do. I really try to keep my eye on what I do not do.

2010 Jun 29
I use cloth bags with drawstrings for vegetables and fruit instead of the plastic in the grocery store and try as much as possible to buy loose fruits and veg rather than the stuff that comes prepackaged. Things like flour, oats, etc I try to buy in the biggest size that we'll use up quickly to reduce the amount of packaging we're bringing into the house.

We also use hankies and rags.

2010 Jun 29
mers - so glad you mentioned about not using the plastic produce bags at the grocery store. i can't believe the number of plastic bags people use. bananas in a plastic bag! 2 apples in a plastic bag! 1 pepper in a plastic bag! argh.

i just have all my produce loose in my cart. i wash it at home before using it.

we use hankies, cloth napkins, make old clothes into rags, reuse glass jars for everything, wash cloths istead of wipes for diaper changes.

2010 Jun 30
Speaking of buying in bulk. One thing that always irks me is the crazy high price the supermarkets charge for flour. If I remember correctly, the price at the wholesale places, like NG Cash/Carry is only about $12 per 50 pound bag.

Anyone up for splitting a 50 pound bag of flour (or similarly large bag of sugar, rice etc) so as to avoid the usurious 5kg/$8 price at the supermarket?

2010 Jun 30
Our Mountain Path buying club buys bulk flour and other dry goods all the time. And it is organic, much of it local. Great prices.

Though I buy quite a bit - 12kg at a time - and store the surplus in the 1.9L mason jars. I have a mason jar attachment for my Food Saver vacuum sealer, which seals on the regular mason jar snap lids. I keep one jar out in the kitchen and the rest stored away on shelves in the basement.

In fact, I have 12kg of rolled oats to package up today!