The Green Parent

Waste-Free Wednesday

According to the U.S. EPA, each American generates about 4½ pounds of garbage each day.  So, in my family of four, we are tossing away over 17 pounds of milk cartons, coloring books, juice boxes, broken dolls, toy packaging, torn-up clothes, Ziploc bags, and leftover sandwiches on a daily basis.  Now that’s rubbish!

All this trash is not only an eye sore, it also contributes to global warming, air and water pollution, energy consumption, resource depletion, and the need for the creation of new unsightly and pollution landfills and incinerators.

So I’m taking on trash this year with a new feature: Waste-Free Wednesdays. The strategy for reducing trash is simple: reduce, reuse, and recycle.  Still, as a mom, I know that kids

and stuff often go hand in hand and it can be hard to reduce the amount of stuff you use, and even harder to recycle it.

That’s where waste-free Wednesdays come in. I want to take a moment (and trust me, I’ll be lucky if I get a moment) every week to think about how I can minimize waste in my home. And I’m looking to green bloggers for my inspiration. So every week I’ll seek out and share with you some of the best info I’ve found on reducing waste. And I hope you’ll share your ideas as well. Here are a few gems that I found recently:

• Mindful Momma tells how to skip the plastic at the grocery store.
• Enviro Mom reminded us to rediscover our stuff.
• Diane at Big Green Purse took Trader Joes to task for their wasteful packaging.
• JessTrev shared how joy over lightening her load over at Green Phone Booth.

Feel free to leave your tips as a comment, or leave a link of your own in the box below.

Photo by loricwilson