Some eco-friendly actions you can take to protect the Planet

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Taking steps to protect the environment is something everyone should do and can do. It is our Planet and our responsibility to do what we can to protect and preserve it.

Whether you are believer in climate change and global warming or not, the actions you take do have consequences. As our children and their children will be inhabiting this world long after we have gone, it is important we take a few key actions to protect the environment in which we live.

Clean-up your local community: You don't need a national “clean-up day”, or even a regional or local one to pick up around your local community and encourage others to do the same. If you see trash, pick it up. Toss it in the nearest trash can.

Where I live and work, in a municipal park, there are a number of dog walkers and other park users who do exactly that. In fact they reach the parts that park staff often does not get to, or not very often, and thus keep the park clear of littler even more. Some actually carry their own bags and picking gear. Other dog walkers, unfortunately, are less considerate and dispose of their dog waste bags by simply leaving them everywhere.

I have come across advice from some people who have written on this matter as to politely challenging people who they observe dropping litter to please put it into the bins. Personally I would advise against such actions. A great many people who inconsiderately drop litter will not be happy to be reminded of it.

Reduce and minimize waste: United Nations estimates indicate around 33 percent of the food that is produced around the world is wasted, according to The Guardian. This means close to 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted each year, while close to 795 million people are going hungry or suffering from malnutrition. When you break this down by category, it is easy to see which foods are being wasted most:

45% fruits and vegetables

35% fish and seafood

30% cereals

20% dairy

20% meat

People living in the highly developed countries, such as the US, the UK, Germany, and others, appear to be the worst offenders, whereas those living in less-developed and poorer countries are generally more frugal. And that goes not just for food. They are more frugal in general.

Do a little gardening: Those who grow their own food can become more sustainable, and will be less likely to waste the food for which they worked so hard. In addition, gardening is good for your overall health and well- being. You know what you are eating, as you grew it yourself, so you won't have to worry about ingesting harmful pesticides and toxins and GMOs bits. Parts of the herbs, fruits or vegetables that aren't used can go right back into your garden a compost to complete the circle.

Oh, sorry, what was that? You haven't got space to grow food? If you have a garden you can grow food and even if you haven't got much of one or none at all you can.

Get busy reusing, repurposing, upcycling and finally recycling: The more you you do that, the less will end up in dumps and landfills.

Before you even go near the recycling bin(s) with anything think RRU first. First think reuse, then repurpose, then possibly upcycling, and that well before you ever toss it into that bin or those bins.

You should first work on reducing your overall consumption, reusing those materials and goods that can be used again, and upcycling items which no longer have a use in their current form into new, usable items. You might as well get the most out of your purchases.

Think of those glass jars that certain produce come in. Aside from the fact that you have paid for them through your purchase they are useful for so many things. Warning everyone, I am now on a roll again.

Our grandparents and their parents rarely would ever toss such things out until or unless they were broken. Such jars were used for storage of dry goods and foods by grandma and grandpa, and they were even used for drinking vessels. After all, they would say, they paid for them, and right they were. Empty tin cans too were used for a variety of tasks and purposes and even the lids.

Food waste, after you have eliminated as much of it as possible, does not belong into the trash can. It belongs into the compost bin or composter to be used in the garden.

Only when all the reuse, repurposing and upcycling options are exhausted, and only then, the recycling bin(s) come(s) in. though that only works really if there is a kerbside collection in your area.

Stay in touch and in tune with Nature: Take the time each day to get out and about, so you stay closely connected with Nature. The better you understand its value, the more respect you will have and the more you will do to protect the environment. Even if it is just for a short time each day, go for a walk, take a bike ride, go on a hike or just sit outside and look around. When you look closely, you will be amazed and awed by Nature and its capabilities.

Lowering emissions: Don't forget to lower your emissions by opting for eco-friendly forms of transportation. I know that that all depends on where you live and the distances that you have to travel; for work for instance. If distances are not too far then opt for a good quality bicycle and also learn how to maintain it. When traveling further than you would wish to with a bike and the facilities are there opt for public transport, such as bus, tram, metro, train, over the car. Only use the latter if absolutely necessary.

While none of these actions will not necessarily change the world over night or even in a day, each can make quite a difference. When we work together as a whole, all our small actions combined, the people of the world can accomplish quite a bit. Start now and be the change you want to see in the world.

© 2017

Zero Waste Household Guide: 12 First Steps

Welcome to 12 First Steps from the Trash Backwards Zero Waste Household Guide. We’ve compiled solutions we’ve put into practice in our own homes over the past three years.  Today we’ll share some basics that address household waste in general; future installments will cover a typical home, room-by-room.

Moving to a lower waste life is an ongoing process – There is a lot we can do as individuals and more that we’ll only be able to address collectively to get at the tangled roots of our waste issues.

We’ve learned a lot about changing our habits and perspectives, and we’d like to offer this bit of advice: Please, don’t try to do everything in this guide at once! Read through it and choose just one step, the one that seems the easiest or most appealing to you, and give that a try. Adapt our ideas as necessary for your own household and lifestyle and keep at that one first change until it’s second nature, or until you’re excited to add another.

Remember that joy and pride are much better motivating emotions in the long run than guilt and shame. Find one first step solution here that addresses something you’d be happy to change because it’s driving you crazy, or something that you’d be proud to accomplish. Find the joy and humor in taking control of your stuff, and celebrate every little change you make. Over time, these small steps add up and can have a profound positive impact.

Read more here.

Be creative and reduce waste

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Make things for yourself and for others and reduce the need to go an buy everything that you want (and need).

There are many things that are considered waste and waste products by the majority and the powers-that-be that, in fact, can become the resources for making things we want and need ourselves, or as gifts for family and friends. And, with the right mindset, ideas and a little skill those can also and even become salable products.

Even, unfortunately, people who consider themselves “green” and “ecologically minded” do not seem to have the mindset that our ancestors have and cannot see items of waste as a resource, aside from being recyclables to be used by the recycling industry.

They will go out and buy a recycled steel pencil bin while, at the same time, throwing away a clean tin can into the recycling which can – for nothing – serve the same purpose and can make for a great conversation piece when placed on the desk.

Or they will go and throw some large glass jars into the recycling bin and then go out and spend lots of money of recycled glass storage jars where the produce jars would have been able to to the same job for zero costs and removing some glass jars from the waste stream.

Those are but two examples and I have seen this happening myself and the people were so programed to recycling that they could not see that they could have been using those “recyclables” instead of buying new products, even though made from recycled materials.

When I was a child drinking glasses in daily use where not proper, if you like, glasses but glass jars of different sizes and I strongly believe that the reason for the predominately working class term of “having a jar” of something means just that, namely that a jar was used as a drinking vessel. And why not?

I have not bought a notebook for ages. I make my own from single-sided printed press releases and other printed matter. The same goes for the index cards that I use which I make from card material from packaging and I also make my own business card from such materials.

When we look back at the way our ancestors made use of waste for their everyday needs (and wants), from backs of envelopes, over cigar boxes, glass jars and so much more we can, and in deed must, take a leaf out of their books to make our money go further and, at the same time, reduce the amount that we put into the waste stream.

Starve your recycling bins and not just the trash can, I say, and make use of as much of the waste materials that you can. There is so much that you can make from waste for your own use, as gifts and, even, for sale. Just use your mind and some of the ideas that can be found in books and all over the Internet. Especially, however, take a look at what our ancestors did and how the reused and recycled well before it was a fashionable thing. And I mean they did reuse, repurpose and upcycle out of necessity often and for us it may just be a way to save money and to reduce our impact on the Planet.

© 2014

Packaging Waste

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The greatest scourge, as far as waste is concerned and the amount of it, is packaging waste and much of it, because of the way that it is made – the packaging, not the waste – is also not recyclable.

Simple East German packaging (in this case for a pocketknife)

Industry is over-packaging almost everything that is put onto the market for us to buy and often it is a question of why in the mind of any normal and rational thinking person.

One of my favorite example are the replacement brushes for the Braun electric toothbrush. Each brush is individually encased in a plastic bubble with paper backing and the two or four little brushes are then encased in a hard plastic bubble that it is huge in comparison to the two or four small brushes. Waste of resources for starters and then, well, waste.

The packages are that size, so I have been told, so that – one – people, shoppers, can see them and – two – so they cannot be stolen easily.

Now, if I want and need those replacement brushes I buy them regardless of packaging size yelling at me “I am here” and a simple cardboard box would do equally well, as it was done some fifty or so years ago. And we can especially learn as regards to packaging and reduction of waste of same from the minimal packaging that was used in places such as the Soviet Union and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).

There have been, over the years, attempts by makers of some products to encourage reuse of the packaging, noticeable some mustards, Nutella and also Classico pasta sauces, in that the jars were made as reusable drinking glasses or, as in the case of Classico sauces where real Atlas Mason canning jars are used, which can be reused for canning by just buying the replacement rims and lids. And, to some extent this is still happening today. It is with the Classico sauces and also some mustards.

Good packaging design, however, could contribute greatly to a reduction in packaging waste generated if it would be – the packaging, not the waste – be conceived with a second use in mind and this reuse be obvious.

Another design alternative is where, as has been done with a media center some time back, the packaging becomes the stand for it or, as in the case of a recently unveiled new computer printer where the packaging becomes the case. It can be done and is not really rocket science.

Designing packaging with reuse and second use in mind (and instructions as to how to reuse the packaging incorporated) is not – or should not be – difficult as can be seen with regards to what has been done before.

On the other hand, as far as glass bottles (and glass jars) are concerned commercial reuse, not recycling by breaking up the containers, with a deposit scheme should be reintroduced and no, it does not, as is being claimed time and again by “our” politicians unwilling to do it, require pilot projects and lengthy studies. It does work and has worked before and yes, even in Britain. We only have not done it for decades now.

However, glass bottles and glass jars are but a small section of packaging waste. A far greater amount is made up by cardboard and plastic and here is where reuse design of packaging especially comes in and into its own.

Also here it can be done and some manufacturers of sweets already make mention on their “tins”, whether they be of actual tin or of plastic, that the packaging can be reused and how.

If designers could, together with their clients in industry, create containers and other packaging that “automatically” have an obvious second use our problem with all that stuff going into landfill might get solved somewhat.

This will, however, impact on other sales and the economy if people having packaging that they can reuse for something that they otherwise would have to buy and this may upset the “we have to grow the economy” brigade. But so be it! It is the Planet that is more important that the perpetual growth economy which is not sustainable and will destroy us all if we allow it to.

© 2013

1.3 billion tons of food are wasted globally every year

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Every year around the world at least 1.3 billion tons of food are being wasted. Much of that in our very homes though another great amount of that between field and store and then another great amount of that in the stores. The fact is that we waste more food than we would need to feed the entire Planet several times over.

Stores will look for having always “fresh” food (appearance counts here) food on display till the very end of the day, whether this is fruit and vegetables, bread and meat on the shelves to the very end of the day of business. And, and here comes the hammer, much of that bread and fruit and vegetables is then tipped into dumpsters simply because they would no longer be fresh enough the next day.

The problem, however, starts already at field level during harvest when much of the food, as in fruit and vegetables, has to be rejected by the farmer (or will be rejected by the supermarket buyer) as it does not meet the “standards” that consumers expect.

Thus misshapen fruit and veg, those with blemished, etc., are being thrown out and often are being destroyed. Some more of it perishes in transit as the distance from field to store is often way too long.

Then some, as said, the stores, and in the end come the consumers who, often, have no idea what to do with anything that looks a little less appetizing and especially not with any leftovers. Thus more than a billion plus of food ends up in the bin.

Aside from the fact that some people simply cannot cook from scratch properly and especially have no idea as to what to make from leftover vegetables, for instance, there come the fact that many are loathed to eat leftovers, especially many youngsters who have come to expect plenty and fresh all the time. They have, obviously, never had properly made “bubble and squeak”.

Furthermore, many people, as already mentioned, are almost incapable of cooking from scratch properly and thus too much gets made which then gets thrown away because no one wants leftovers. And because in the developed world we behave like this there is a supposed food shortage in the world.

There is no food shortage (in the same way that there is no housing crisis in the UK and the US, etc.). There is just too much wastage. And also there is the fact that foods are grown for our markets in the developing world that people in the countries where the produce is being grown do not eat (as staple), such as green beans grown in Kenya and then imported to the UK.

The system is cockeyed as is the way we deal with food.

© 2013

Where do your recyclables (really) go?

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Have you ever asked yourself as to where your recyclables that you put out for collection or that you take to the recycling bank actually end up. The answers would surprise you in may, if not indeed all, cases.

GLASS

“Oh, they make it back into bottles and such” is what most people believe and say and maybe even you. But that is, in most cases, plain wrong.

A major percentage of all glass collected is crushed and made – wait for it – building sand. Yes, sand, the very thing that glass is made of in the first place; silicate. Only a tiny percentage of bottles and jars from recycling banks and kerbside recycling goes back to become new bottles and jars or any other glass products for that matter.

PLASTIC/PLASTIC CONTAINERS/-BOTTLES

The recycling of plastic is also very much an issue. The problem is that much of your recyclables in the form of plastic bottles and other plastic containers are while they are collected “at home”, and this is also the case with many other recyclables, they are not recycled “at home” but are shipped to places such as China and India, etc. where the recycling “industry” is not subject to the same stringent regulations as would be the case “at home”.

Many of the recyclables that you, and others, so diligently put out for kerbside recycling never actually make it to any recycling plants, whether “at home” or “abroad”. If there is no market for them – that is to say if there is an 'oversupply' – they simply get landfilled the way it used to be and the same goes for anything that may be “contaminated”.

This is why waste reduction and especially reduction of packaging, and reuse and upcycling in DIY fashion is so very important.

The majority of people, conditioned nowadays by the powers-that-be to recycle, obediently toss their cans, plastic, glass, paper, etc. into the appropriate receptacles believing they do a good thing and the Planet a good turn. Reusing like our grandparents did rarely ever enters their minds.

Are we being lied to by our governments as to what happens to most of the recyclables collected? One could say “yes” to this question to a very large degree.

It makes for an educated consumer to change the behavior of industry to reduce packaging and not just in weight as some have done with glass bottles the glass of which has become a great deal thinner. This is only done to benefit the corporations and their bottom line as it reduces weight and they can put more onto a truck. And this is the same reason why some companies have replaced tin cans for, say, chopped tomatoes with Tetrapak like cardboard packs lines with foil. The latter, unlike the tin cans used before, cannot be reused and also not be recycled in most places.

As long as the consumer, however, is left in the belief that the packaging is recyclable and recycled such change is not about to happen soon.

We must understand how things actually work and function in recycling and waste management field to understand as to how the proverbial cookie crumbles.

Paper recycling and that of cardboard is another issue also that is far from as cut and dry as it is more often than not being presented.

A great amount of paper and card collected goes straight to landfill and that more often than not not only because of market saturation but also and especially because of what is referred to as contamination.

Contamination, as far as paper and card is concerned are the wrong kind of printed matter, such as glossies, for instance, or ink jet printed pages. This ink of the latter which is, more often than not, not waterproof but actually water soluble, and certain colors of this can make the entire batch unusable and in cardboard items such as Pizza boxes and other card with grease or “paper” cups which are lined with either a plastic or a wax liner. Here often people are fault rather than the municipalities, etc., and that through ignorance.

But, again, when the market is saturated with recyclable paper waste the rest gets landfilled and often even at other times.

All of this makes a mockery of kerbside recycling (and other methods) that we are presented with. The only way to go is that of waste reduction and as most of this waste is packaging it is reduction of this, of packaging. Furthermore we have to think REUSE rather than recycling and reuse and upcycle as much as we possibly can. Our ancestors did and we must do so (again) as well.

© 2013

Waste has to stop

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

All waste has to stop and we are the only ones that can do this. We can stop waste and starve the trashcan.

While it is true that we will never be able to eliminate all waste, and that aside from human waste; not even our ancestors of old managed to do that, much of it can be eliminated, especially food waste and packaging waste.

The former we can tackle by learning to cook from scratch and to make use of any leftovers and the second by reusing, repurposing and upcycling as much of it as possible, in the way that our forebears did, whether on the farm or not.

In addition to that we, as consumers, have the power to demand that the manufacturers reduce packaging and also that packaging be designed in such a way that it can have a second or even third life. The Japanese can teach us a thing or two about that.

They package goods more often than not – or at least they did – in boxes, and whatever else, that are purposely intended for reuse.

But even in the West similar things were happening not so long ago, but seem to have gone with the wind no. Nutella used to have its spread in glass jars that were designed to be used after as drinking glasses as did the makers of a number of brands of French mustard and also Kuehne, a German mustard producer, did the same. So why does it seem to be so difficult now, not more than two or three decades after?

Wen it comes to glass jars for packaging our forefathers and -mothers reused each and every one, until they no longer had a use for them. A glass jar is what? A glass and they can be used for drinking out amongst other things. So, let's not waste them. After all you pay for them when you buy the product contained therein.

It seems, however, so alien to many of our contemporaries today to do that. They rather go out and buy a pencil bin for $7 (made from recycled steel) than to use a tin can, destined for the recycling bin, for the same purpose.

And the same goes for glass storage jars. People spend $15 or more on recycled glass storage jars, thinking they do the green thing, while tossing some large glass jars, from products they bought, into the recycling bin.

Aside from the fact that this is waste of resources it is also a waste of money. As I said, you paid for that glass jar or the tin can or the cookie tin; so reuse it.

But we have come so far from the source, so to speak, that now some cookie tins, whether metal or plastic, have printed on them the fact that they can be reused and also for what purpose. Maybe, in fact, we need such instructions printed on the labels and such like in order for people to understand that the trip to the trashcan or the recycling bin is not necessary and should only be the last resort.

Packaging waste is our biggest problem, aside from food waste, and both can be overcome.

As far as packaging waste is concerned we have to reuse, repurpose and upcycle as much as possible of it, as said already, by using our mind. And, in addition, we must demand redesign of it and a reduction of it and also return to lose products, as once was the case. We, as consumers, have the power to make this happen by demanding it and the same goes for products that can be repaired. Let's do it. Let's reduce waste by all means possible.

© 2013

Reuse: The stepchild of waste management (in our homes)

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

For some peculiar reason, despite the fact that the 3Rs of waste management are “reduce, reuse, recycle” most people and even governments only seem to understand them as being “recycle, recycle, recycle” and reuse is, literally, being ignored like a poor stepchild or orphan.

It would appear that many people do not understand the difference between reuse and recycle either and will refer to, say, my glass jars that I reuse, or repurpose, if you will, as drinking glasses as to the jars having been recycled into such glasses. This is, obviously, incorrect. They are reused or, if one wants, repurposed; not recycled.

When we reuse something, albeit for a purpose slightly different to the product's original intended one, we do not change it or its structure, and thus we use no energy.

Recycling, on the other hand, uses lots of energy. Energy to collect the “recyclables”, many of which should be reused; energy to sort and get them to the recycling plant; energy to break the materials up; and then still yet more energy to make new products. In other words, recycling is a very energy intensive process.

Reuse, as we have already seen, on the other hand, requires no energy use (or very, very little) but your own and your imagination.

In addition to reuse by us as individuals a more commercial reuse should be brought back in that glass bottles and jars should be taken back by the stores for reuse for their original purpose. This used to be done with all lemonade, soda and beer bottles some decades past and is, indeed, still being done or again in some countries. Glass jars were also taken back during World War Two in Britain and in all cases there is and was a deposit on the things. It is, thus, not rocket science.

Next to reducing our, especially packaging, waste REUSE must be our priority in managing our waste; at home, at school, and at work.

Recycling is very far down on the list for, when you have to resort to and choose the last option, namely recycling, you have already lost the game.

Reuse must be, if reduce has not worked, and industry is still over packaging things, the way to go and our primary choice. We must relearn, and the great majority of people today indeed seem to need to, the thinking of our parents and grandparents and their parents and grandparents, of considering packaging waste in the form of glass jars, tin cans, and nowadays a variety of other things, as a resource. A resource for reuse and upcycling.

So, instead of throwing out a glass jar we reuse them as much and as long as possible, until such a day when we have a system in place where stores take them back. And the same, though only as far as reusing, goes for tin cans, bicuit tins, single-side printed papers, cardboard boxes, packaging card, plastic containers, etc.

They all must be candidates for reuse and upcycling and the limit as to what they can be reused for and upcycled into is only set by our imagination.

So, let's get reuse out of the orphanage and give it a loving home.

© 2012

Landfills nearly at capacity

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

According to the ONS (Office of National Statistics) we have less than 7 years landfill capacity left in the UK. The fact is that some areas have no capacity left, SE England only 3 years or so capacity left.

This information was distributed by Tweeter @earthexchange (Alex Albon) from Cheshire, UK, and I would not doubt this one bit.

In fact, in my personal opinion, I am surprised that, as a nation, we still, basically, have 7 years left. Holes in the ground are hard to come by and we must make a serious change in our habits and behavior. Exporting our waste, as we do already to some extend cannot be allowed to be the option.

In the Unites States some areas, such as New York State and New York City, and some states further south even, have run out of ground space and are shipping – yes, you read right – their waste all the way into Canada, to places in Ontario and Quebec.

This is madness in the extreme and only a serious change in people's attitude, and that of industry, will make inroads here.

A serious reduction in waste is what is needed and that starts at the manufacturer and retail store. Personally I cannot see what, for instance, the replacement brushed for a Braun electric tooth brush come in their own individual packages which are then in a huge blister package that is very hard to recycle to boot. And this is but one example of the total packaging madness.

It is, predominately, packaging what fills up the landfill sites in this country and elsewhere and it is packaging that we must reduce. Eliminating is not possible, that I know, but reducing must be and is.

And this is also the place were reuse of bottles and glass jars comes in and it is reuse not just by consumers who upcycle the stuff into something else but a reuse by the manufacturer taking the bottles and jars back to be refilled. It has been done with bottles always until the disposable came about in the 1970s though it has not, as yet, been done with glass produce jars, but it could and can.

There are but a number of opening sizes and lid types for all glass jars on the market worldwide and therefore it is not rocket science to take them back and refill and reuse them. It makes sense in more than one way too for it saves costs for the manufacturer of the produce as well.

Time we began starving the landfill in a rather serious way.

© 2011

Some easy ways to reduce household waste

by Michael Smith

When you live in towns or cities then things so simple when it comes to getting rid of rubbish: every whichever night you place your full garbage cans on the curb and next morning they have emptied themselves, as if by magic. Though it is no magic and we all know that.

Aside from the fact that depending on the country that you live in you may be able to hear some raccoons or foxes having a midnight party in those trash cans getting rid of our garbage is a pretty simple and sanitary procedure.

Things more often than not are different out in the sticks in the USA and such countries while in most parts of the British countryside things are not much different as to getting rid of rubbish.

In the real boonies, however, often, especially in America, you are yourself responsible of getting rid of your trash in lieu of a municipal collection service that means that you have to get it somehow into your car or truck and then drive it to the dump. And that is where all of a sudden things get a lot less sanitary.

If you have never been to a municipal dump then I recommend that you pay a visit just as an educational experience. When I say here “municipal dump” I do not mean the waste centers or waste transfer stations, but the actual dump, the tip, the landfill.

Those places are huge and you will realize how much waste we generate, whether as private individuals or as businesses and as government departments; for all of this ends up at those refuse tips.

You will find there subdivisions that are dedicated to computers and electronics, to plastics, to household appliances, to tires and so on. An endless stream of refuse trucks comes in to dump loads.

To create more room, bulldozers spread mutilated garbage into freshly dug trenches, then cover the stuff with dirt. Layer upon layer upon layer of garbage.

In most of those places the stench is so overwhelming that one's gag reflex kicks in. The smell in the air is a potent mix of decay and of a soup of mixed chemicals oozing into the soil.

Anyone who has ever been visiting a dump should soon realize that this is not an environmentally sustainable situation. In fact, most if not indeed all landfills are but a toxic time bomb waiting to go off in our faces, and no covering it up with dirt will make it go away.

We all, in our individual countries and nations and the entire world over, but primarily to start with us in the do-called developed world (one sometimes wonders as to the “developed”) must take serious and drastic steps to cut back on the waste that we produce, starting, as individuals, with the waste that we produce in our respective households.

There are ways that we can all cut back on rubbish produced, so to speak, in our homes (I hope to look at how to be able to reduce waste in offices and businesses at some later stage). It can be done.

Bulk bins: Bulk Stores rule, that is sure. The problem is that they are not easy to find in places other than North America. No wrapping, no packaging, no frills – just about anything you may need sits in large bins, ready to scoop. From pasta to peanut butter (self-ground) and anything in between. There used to be one such place in London (UK) called Neal's Yard and, while I know the place still exists and their range of organic and natural perfumes and such can be seen often, I do often wonder whether they still sell in the other stuff in that way. You used to go there with your own storage containers and got them filled up; the peanut butter directly from the machine. Now that was peanut butter.

BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag). Bring a cool-looking tote to take your groceries away in, and forgo those plastic carrier bags that stay around for the next few millennia. You can either buy those from a number of sources or follow the instructions of morsbags.com and make your own.

Recycle. Most cities and towns have a recycling program in place for paper, glass, tin, even kitchen waste. Garages in the USA will take your old car batteries and tires. Many hardware stores there too will take your old paint, batteries and old CFLs. Unfortunately this is not the same in Britain, for instance, where it is much more difficult to find places where such things are taken in.

Compost your kitchen scraps. Your plant beds will be happy, I have been composting for a considerable while now and not only do kitchen scraps – pleas no meat, as that is NOT good for your compost – but also cardboard, shredded paper (what is that for security, LOL, first shredded and then turned to soil. ID thieves eat your heart out!).

Bring your own coffee mug for your take-out coffee. There are many places, in the USA at least, that will even give you a discount for bringing your own mug. At Starbucks and Wile Bean Cafe you can buy your own insulated stainless steel mug that you can then take back with you every time you want a mug of take-out coffee. Shame that some people don't and in fact buy their take-out coffee in one of those insulated mugs and then throw the mug away in a municipal park where they have been walking while drinking their coffee. That is something I can never understand.

Avoid take-out food as much as possible. While this can be a challenge on a Friday night, for instance, all all those plastic and foam containers in which they come produce a big stream of toxic rubbish, especially those horrible polystyrene carton for which there is no recycling use and even most councils will not recycle the plastic containers whether PP or other plastic.

Eat home-cooked meals instead. Here it does not necessarily matter whether you cook entirely from fresh stuff or whether you use cans or jars. While this is another potential minefield as far as waste is concerned, including, if you use fresh vegetables, lost of peelings and such. However, all those plastic and aluminium trays that those frozen dinners and prepackaged meals come in do not help the environment. Steel tin cans can be, if you do not have a way of getting them recycled, be reworked into usable stuff very often, and if that fails then you can also throw them into compost; they rust and rot down to nothing. The lining of some of them could be a problem though.

Drink tap water instead of bottled water. Evian, Perrier, and all those other bottled brands, are no longer cool and are not environmentally sustainable and that includes compostable plastic bottles. Why do I say that? Because I am not on about the plastic bottle n ot as much as I am on about using water in this way.
Get a reusable water bottle – if plastic then one that does not contain BPA such as the one from “We Want Tap” or otherwise an aluminium one or a stainless steel one. Yes. They are not cheap but they will lat nigh on for ever. You will make that price up very soon though by not paying $2 for 1/2 liter of water, which probably comes from public sources anyway.

Repair. Don’t throw out. More, I don't think has to be said here. There is a problem, I know, with some stuff and getting it repaired, such as electronic stuff, where buying new is so often much cheaper than actually repairing things.

Buy durable stuff, whether this is electronic goods, clothes, shoes, etc.. While it may cost a little bit more to get the better quality product, but it will last much longer and always pays for itself in the long run. That, at least, is the theory. I must say that I have found more than once that some cheaper product lasted better than expensive supposed quality brand. But that is, probably, a rare event.

The best thing about cutting back on garbage is the instant results in less waste going into the trashcan and the savings for those that have to pay per weight of refuse going into the tip.

We all must reduce the waste that we put into the bins. There is no other way. Aside from the fact that we are running out of holes in the ground where to put all that garbage it just is not sustainable. The rotting garbage releases a methane gas mix that is many times more dangerous than carbon dioxide as far as the environment is concerned.

© M Smith (Veshengro), 2009
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