Wet & Dry Recycling Tips
Guelph residents participate in a three-stream curbside collection program called
Wet-Dry+ — Wet for composting, Dry for recycling and Waste for landfill.
Recyclers are no longer a social minority. In fact, society’s multiple methods of recycling include eco-friendly purchasing, production and packaging so that consumers can greatly reduce their carbon footprints on the planet. In addition to recycling, reuse things until they are obsolete. Then, recycle the waste back into the production cycle.
Precycle
Precycling’s number one core value is the prevention of waste before it is even created. Precycling is a method consumers use to reduce or eliminate the need to recycle. Waste Watch urges consumers to establish a “waste hierarchy,” which is a set of behavioral values that minimize waste (see “Resource Efficiency” in Resources for more). For example, Environment Canada recommends that consumers buy loose vegetables in bulk to reduce packaging materials, and carry them home in a reusable bag. Consumers may also choose products with minimal or recycled packaging, as those materials comprise much of what lies in landfills.
Reuse
Reusing saves money and the environment. For example, if you’ve ever had to move, you probably packed your possessions in reused empty boxes that had been destined for the trash heap. Once finished with your move, Envirowise suggests keeping the same boxes for similar domestic needs in the future. Another example of reusing is to return your empty print toner cartridges to a retailer that refills them at lower cost than pure replacement. Instead of throwing old furniture in a landfill, why not donate it to a charity? In the office, you can print internal draft documents on the back-sides of previous misprints. In the morning, pack your own metal coffee mug with lunch, and you’ve taken another of the waste hierarchy’s most treasured steps toward environmental efficiency.
Recycle
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that in 2008, plastic produced 30 million tons of recyclable municipal solid waste. Plastic is made of polymer, which is a combination of resins that can be recycled to make new products. Municipalities often have the jurisdiction to carry out national recycling initiatives, so check to see what materials your community is recycling (see “Success Stories” in Resources). In an EPA publication, record recyclers offer several tips aimed at building strong recycling communities: educate yourself on the benefits of recycling, involve your neighbors and community, start a program, build lease agreements which require residents to recycle, and focus on collecting materials of high quality and value.
Read more: Waste Recycling Tips | eHow.co.ukhttp://www.ehow.co.uk/list_7288874_waste-recycling-tips.html#ixzz1MvdEeMs9
