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Help Protect the Environment! April 12th, 2021

(Photo courtesy of Nareeta Martin,        Unsplash)

Reducing consumption, reusing items and recycling whenever possible reduces air and water pollution, keeps landfills from filling up so quickly and saves energy and money for both consumers and governments that have to deal with trash. This is a great way to deal with climate change. Our new brochure offers tips on ways you can reduce, reuse and recycle as individuals and in your communities.

Download the brochure to share online

Download the brochure to print

 


Eco-Tips: Mindfulness about Waste October 20th, 2011

The Great Pacific Ocean DumpDid you know that every year:

  • each person in the United States produces over 3,285 pounds of hazardous waste;
  • over 80% of items in landfills can be recycled, but they’re not;
  • the United States generates 30 billion foam cups, 220 million tires, and 1.8 billion disposable diapers every year.

Its time to stop. These are some of the things you can start doing today:

  • Favor products with a high recycled content, even if they cost a little more.
  • Reduce the volume of packaging you buy, reuse what you can, and recycle the rest.
  • Tell the clerk “I don’t need a bag”.
  • Use your own reusable canvas bag or backpack at the store.
  • Buy quality products and keep them for a lifetime.


These Come From Trees! January 10th, 2011

Do you want to save trees – and money – at the same time? Check out the blog “These Come From Trees” – which describes itself as “An experiment in environmentalism, viral marketing, and user interface design with the goal of reducing consumer waste paper!

The group sells inexpensive, but durable stickers that look like this:

A single “These Come From Trees” sticker can save roughly a tree’s worth of paper, each year!

The project has indeed gone viral, with stickers appearing everywhere from the Denver airport to Seton Hall University. Schools can order them for free, and the project has developed a simple lesson plan which guides students through calculations of paper and money saved.

People often accidentally over-consume paper products, without intending to do so. A friendly reminder at the right time can help us to pause and consider how much of that item – whether a paper towel, napkin, or photocopy – we really need. The stickers wind up reducing consumption by as much as 30%, and at no cost to the user!

Order your “These Come from Trees” stickers today!


Ease Up on Mother Earth – Reuse! July 20th, 2010

reuseReduce, Reuse, Recycle… We’ve all heard this mantra many times, but how often do we really think about it?

Hard economic times have many of us reducing our purchasing, and we are finding that perhaps we don’t need as much as we thought we did. But we also have much that can be re-used – both for the good of the planet and to help out those in need.

How can we encourage Reuse?

Start a re-use project in your church. Maybe you can have collection boxes for winter coats or kids’ clothing that is worth passing on. Books and DVDs are other items that are good to swap. Are there a lot of gardeners in your community? Swap seeds and gardening magazines. The possibilities are endless once you start thinking about it.

If you really want to inspire re-use in your community, organize a swap meet. Set up a few tables and get a group of people to bring their perfectly good items that others can take home for free in exchange for a trade. A variation on the old rummage sale…

More and more people – especially young people – are trading on-line. For the low-down on Craig’s List, Freecycle and other internet trade sites, read the Care2.com blog entry – “Not Buying It? How to Trade the Stuff You Already Have”.

Re-use this post – share it with others!

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