Recycling Week October 19, 2009 “Do you part and reduce your waste”
Recycling Week begins October 19, 2009 and is a great reminder to all of us to think about reducing our personal and corporate waste! In North America the average citizen produces over 1000 kgs of waste each year. Staggering! In Finland the average resident creates about 450 kgs of waste. Amazing! How can we in North America or the developed world be so wasteful? Resources are not scarse for most of us, so we use them without care (or at least with less care than others in less developed societies). I think many of us in the developed world equate consumption with wealth.
Sadly, if we don’t change this pattern … we are not going to get anywhere in reducing the waste we create.
Back to Recycling Week, what can you do to make a meaningful impact during Recycling Week and beyond?
Here are 5 things you could do to recycle more:
1. Make sure that everything in your household that is paper is recycled. For example how about toilet paper rolls and junk mail are they making it into your blue box? If not, make sure they do.
2. Try a home composter! Its actually easy and really cool to see the results = new soil in less than 6 months. If don’t have room for a composter, see if a friend might allow you to use theirs. “Coop” Compost!
3. Buy carefully. Purchase items that are going to last or that can be re used. Make your purchasing decision about reducing the waste you create.
4. Get bills on line if at all possible, this of course reduces the hard copy invoices that get mailed to you (just think about the paper waste, and how about the carbon waste – that invoice has to be transported by air to get to you in many cases).
5. Purchase goods that come in packaging that can be recycled.
Here are some ideas on sustainable lifestyle commitments:
1. Don’t drink bottled water for 12 months. Bottled water (or other beverages for that matter) are transported great distances from the source of manufactoring to consumption. Eliminating this will reduce the personal waste you create.
2. Once a week commute to work with a friend, on the bus, by bike or walk. One small step makes a huge difference.
3. Turn off lights when you are not in a room. Sometimes this can be hard to remember, but it saves energy and money and makes your household more sustainable. There are plenty of websites that offer advise on how to make your home more green and environmentally friendly. bcydro.com is one.
Every small step counts in reducing our personal and corporate footprint on this earth, do your part!
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