Tips for proper waste management

 In order to manage waste successfully and efficiently, all you have to do is put into practice “the three Rs”: reduce, recycle and reuse. These are the basic principles of keeping your pollution as minimal as possible. Here are some tips on how to achieve this, taken from here http://www.mrcpolymers.com/PlasticRecyclingFacts.php.

To Reduce

1. Don’t buy individually packaged food items. You can buy the things your entire family eats, like yoghurt, cereal, crackers and other snack in bulk to reduce the amount of packaging that creates garbage.
2. Drink water from glasses or refillable bottles. It’ll significantly reduce the amount of PET bottles you throw away.
3. Avoid buying products that are made from plastic or any other material that takes thousands of years to degrade. Buy items in paper or cork packaging.
4. Reduce the amount of everyday products you use. Most of the regular household items you have at home are disposed of in landfills and never get recycled. This includes things like ceramics, rubber, yarn, fabric, shoes, brushes, cosmetics, toys made from plastic or polyester, sweets and food wrappers, mirrors, light bulbs, Styrofoam, pens, markers, pencils, erasers, disks, tapes, cellophane, toothbrushes, rakes, foil, etc.
5. When choosing between two or more similar products, choose the one with the least amount of packaging. Avoid any excessive consumption of packaged products, not only because they generate more trash, but because they’re often overpriced.
6. Avoid using plastic bags you get at grocery stores, and opt for cloth or mesh bags. You can carry one with you everywhere you go and can use it almost indefinitely.
7. If you buy just a couple of small and light items, don’t take a bag and carry them in your hands.
8. Buy locally. Whenever you can, buy foods and other items that are produced near the area where you live. You’ll avoid overpaying for unnecessary packaging and transportation.
9. Reduce the amount of aluminum foil and plastic wrap you use. Instead, put the things you’d otherwise wrap in these foils in glass or stainless steel containers. It’ll help your food stay fresh longer, and pose no harm to the environment.
10. Instead of buying cleaning products that are full of dangerous chemicals, make your own at home. Use vinegar with lemon to clean your floors, scrub the sink and disinfect the fridge. You can even add a few drops of any natural flavoring you like to keep your house smelling clean and fresh.
11. Avoid using bug sprays and other insecticides. You can make a pretty effective bug repellent device by combining orange or lemon zest with different herbs. Plant lavender and basil in small pots you decorated with citrus zest and keep them on your window still to repel bugs.

To Reuse:

12. Reuse any glass container or jar you bought other products in. You can also stop buying products in plastic packaging and opt for products that come wrapped in paper.
13. Reuse water bottles and any other plastic bottles.
14. Reuse all your old clothes instead of throwing them away. You can make rags out of torn towels, or even use your old shirts to make trendy cloth bags.
15. Organize second-hand or yard sales with your friends and neighbors. Someone could find a good use for the things you no longer need, and you can use the money the make to donate to charity.
16. Donate your old clothes and furniture to homeless shelters or orphanages.

To Recycle:

17. Place garbage separators in your trash bins. Separating recyclable items from non-recyclable ones will make the whole process much easier, and you’ll get a good overview of how good your recycling habits are.
18. Use cardboard boxes or wooden crates as trash bins. If you separate your trash and dispose of it in these bins, even the organic waste won’t generate any foul odors.
19. Make sure all the plastic and glass items you recycle are clean from any food and dirt. Sometimes these containers get discarded if they contain food remains or are pretty greasy. A quick wash before you put them in the recycling bin should prevent this from happening.
20. Always crush cardboard boxes and plastic bottles so they’ll use up more space. Sometimes the garbage truck gets filled up completely and can’t take all of the trash deposited at recycle bins to the recycling facility.
21. Recycle all the paper you can! Recycling paper requires 60% less energy than making new paper from cellulose, and reduces landfill contamination by up to 50%.
22. When recycling cardboard boxes or crates, make sure you remove any material that’s not paper or cork. Only send them to the recycling facility when you’ve used them up completely and when you’ve made sure you got them clean and decontaminated.
23. Medical waste is a type of waste that originates mostly from the bathroom. It’s advisable to keep it separated from other trash and dispose of it in designated containers. Medical waste includes: disposable diapers, toilet paper, gauze, medication, sanitary towels, used tissues and bandages.
24. Dispose of toxic and hazardous materials safely and carefully. There are many private recycling facilities and plants that offer to dispose of these items for you, and often  have 24/7 hotlines you can ask for help from. Some of these toxic materials include batteries, cell phones and other electronics, LED light bulbs, printer cartridges and toners, motor oils, etc.