Green Tips how to Reduce Home Waste and Recycle More

[athena]

9. Switch to a plant-based diet.

It's amazing how much this reduces one's trash. It also makes cleanup a lot easier, since you don't have to deal with heavy grease.

Over a year ago, I read Plastic Free by Beth Terry. I was amazed to find out that most items one puts into a recycling bin don't actually get recycled. Even though I had been avoiding disposable bags for over a decade, I was able to make several small changes that greatly reduced my use of plastic. After that, we signed up for composting, which cut our trash volume in half. (I'm lucky to live in a town that provides composting services for a fee.) Finally, we switched to a plant-based diet, which meant that we were no longer throwing away those awful styrofoam trays that meat is sold in. We now produce so little trash that we only need trash pickup once a month. What's more, the trash isn't smelly, because it doesn't contain any food items.