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Reduce
Plan before you buy. Before you buy anything, you may want to consider if there are other, less material-intensive ways to meet your needs. While some of these are obvious, they’re all worth a mention:
• Ask yourself if you could you borrow (or pay to rent) the item instead of buying it.
• Consider sharing ownership with your neighbors of seasonal equipment such as snow blowers or lawn mowers.
• Determine if a broken item can be repaired instead of replaced. Bear in mind, however, that this might not make environmental sense for some products (such as refrigerators and air conditioners) that have increased in efficiency and are often better simply to replace.
• Look for features that will make products easy to upgrade if your needs change.
• Plan your food purchases. A new study from the University of Arizona Contemporary Archeology Project in Tucson estimates that an average family of four currently tosses out $590 per year in spoiled or uneaten meat, fruits, vegetables and grain products.
How to curtail the extra mail. About 4 billion pounds of paper go into producing direct-mail catalogs each year. You can remove yourself from many direct marketing lists by registering online or by sending a postcard with your name, home address, and signature to Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, P.O. Box 643, Carmel, NY 10512. Companies that use the service then know to take your name off their mailing lists. You can also contact a company directly and ask to be taken off its list.
Reuse
Use rechargeable batteries. When possible, replace the regular dry-cell batteries in radios, toys, cell phones, watches, laptop computers, portable power tools, and remote controls with rechargeables. Currently, Americans buy nearly 3 billion dry-cell batteries each year. Using rechargeable batteries helps reduce the amount of metal and plastic that is needed to make new ones. When disposing rechargeables, make sure to recycle them which will keep toxics from the batteries out of landfills and incinerators, which is especially important for those that can contain lead, mercury, and cadmium.
Choose reusable products over disposables. You’ll not only create less waste but can often save more money. For example, Consumer Reports’ tests of disposable mops and new vacuum-style mops found that they can cost more than $115 per year, compared with $50 for replacement heads and cleaner for a traditional sponge mop (and that’s on top of the initial cost of buying the mop kit). Plus the used components add to the solid waste burden.
Likewise, using a sponge or rag for routine clean-up chores will save on paper towels, which can be reserved for cleaning cutting boards, counters, and greasy spills. You can keep sponges clean by tossing them in the dishwasher, soaking them in diluted bleach, or rinsing them and then heating them in the microwave oven for 60 seconds at full power.
Consumer Reports Online subscribers can learn more about how disposable cleaning cloths and mops held up in our tests.
Find someone who can use what you no longer need. Online auctions and exchanges, such as freecycle, eBay, and Craig’s List (along with such time-honored outlets as yard sales and thrift shops), make it easier than ever to find a home for unwanted, but still useful, items.
Extend the life of your current computer. By some estimates, as many as half of all retired computers are still in good working order when they’re dumped to make way for newer technology. Sometimes simple upgrades, maintenance, or repairs can help you extend the life of a computer beyond the current average of just three to five years. To learn more about steps you can take, read Consumer Reports' New Lives for Old Hardware.
Donate your used computer. Consumers, schools, and nonprofit organizations can often use computer equipment that no longer meets the original owner’s needs. Several national and many local organizations facilitate the reuse of electronic equipment. The National Cristina Foundation is one such national group.
But before you donate or buy certain used items, check to see if they have been recalled. This is especially important for products designed for babies and other young children, which may be unsafe. Consumer Reports Online posts recall notices on its Web site.
Recycle
Make sure your recycling bin contains only the materials accepted by your local program. Contamination of recycled stock with nonrecycleable materials can compromise the quality and marketability of glass, plastic, and paper. Glassmaking factories that accept recycled bottles, for instance, must go to great lengths to remove contaminants such as windowpane glass and light bulbs that, because of their different melting points, can ruin entire furnace loads of glass.
Large appliances and autos have their own special recycling programs. Many states have banned these items from local landfills, and global demand for scrap steel makes recycling them a lucrative proposition. To find out more about how to recycle these items where you live, use the zip-code searchable directory offered by Earth 911, or call your local sanitation or public works department. Many charitable organizations accept donations of used cars (as well as boats and even planes), and you may be able to take a tax deduction. The IRS recently tightened these rules, however. For the details, click here.
Turn yard and kitchen wastes into compost. For composting tips and advice on the equipment you need (which is minimal), visit our page on Compost Bins.
Pay special attention to recycling potentially hazardous products.
For example:
•Recycling used motor oil helps keep it out of the waterways. Many states require filling stations to collect used motor oil for recycling.
•Car batteries are extremely hazardous because they contain large amounts of lead. Most states now require retailers selling new lead batteries to take old ones back. For more information on how to handle these and other automotive items, visit the Autos section.
•Some rechargeable batteries contain cadmium, another highly toxic heavy metal. When they reach the end of their useful life, these batteries should be recycled rather than simply discarded. The Rechargeable Battery Coalition, a consortium of battery manufacturers, has developed a national take-back program for rechargeables that is administered through local retail stores. To find a participating store in your area, use the consortium’s zip-code searchable listing.
To learn how to safely discard these and other hazardous materials in your area use the zip-code searchable listings offered by Earth 911.
Turn in old electronic equipment. Many retailers and manufacturers now offer programs to recycle batteries, cell phones, and computer systems, along with incentives to buy new products. Others charge a fee for this service. While most require you to mail the products back, retailers or municipalities sometimes sponsor local, limited-duration collection programs.
Understand the label claims. Many products tout their recycled or reclaimed constituents, their capacity to be recycled later, and their ability to biodegrade. For more information on what the labels mean, visit Eco-labels, our free labeling site.
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