1. Create systems

• Decide what you will recycle
• Assign a home for a recycling center
• Find the right containers to hold your recycling products
• Arrange pick-up of those items, or plan time to take recycling to centers
• Have a drop box for items to be donated and continually add to it
• Keep grocery bags in the car so you remember to use them (keep on passenger seat if you need to)

2. Use durables rather than disposables – replace disposable items that fill the landfill with re-usable items that can be washed.

• Use cloth napkins
• Refill water containers rather than buying bottles – get a water filter so your water tastes good to you.
• Invest in some grocery/shopping bags and bring them into stores
• Re-use gift cards by refilling them with money

3. Pre-cycle – Don’t bring stuff into your life in the first place if you can stop it.

• Stop junk mail (http://www.optout.com)
• End magazine subscriptions and newspaper subscriptions that you don’t read often. Read them online instead. Pay for online subscriptions if you don’t want to deal with paper at all.
• Buy item with less packaging.  Try hassle free packaging from Amazon.com.  Buy larger bulk containers with less internal packaging and put into food storage containers to keep food fresh.

If you can even do one of these things it could make a little less of a pile in the world’s landfills.

Our children appreciate the actions you take now.

Related posts:
Green Resources
Green Alternatives from Jeri Dansky
Donating and Recycling from Jeri Dansky
Green Organizing Tips from Matter of Heart
Trash Makeover from Neat and Simple Living Blog