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We have heard of the 3 R’s for quite some time now. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. For many, they don’t usually think too much into it.
As humans, we create a lot of waste. This is waste that ends up in the rivers and lakes that we fish in, or even the field’s you hunt.
We all should know by now about that huge collection of trash out in the ocean. Well it didn’t happen overnight.
Humans have become very fond of tossing the old and bringing in the new. This applies to just about anything.
There are supermarkets in just about every town nowadays. It didn’t use to be that way though. We have been conditioned as humans. Don’t get me wrong, it is nice to be able to to and pick up something when you need it, at whatever time of night.
Every time we purchase things, whether it be food, household items and appliances, electronics and everything else. We have a lot of plastic waste. Everything is wrapped in plastic or packaged in plastic.
If you buy online, you have either boxes shipped to your door or a bubble bag. I always loved to pop the bubble wrap as a child. I’m sure you did also.
So how can we as a society do better with our waste?
Reduce waste.
It is easier said than done, but it is possible.
You can buy in bulk at many stores and supermarkets. Bring your container or reusable bag to the store with you and pour it in there. Food and groceries is where most of the waste comes from.
Food is either boxed up or wrapped in plastic and boxed up. You also bag up the fresh fruits and vegetables or even pack’s of meat when you grab them from the shelf.
It all adds up. But that is just one of the ways we accumulate a lot of waste.
As a parent, we often go with the disposable diapers, they are easy to just toss out and not have to worry about washing a poopy diaper. I mean technically you are supposed to get the poop out of diapers before you toss the, but who does that?
When we go out for dinner and a movie with our friend’s or family, how often do you take the leftovers?
We would always take our leftovers, sometimes they would get left in the car and forgotten about until the stench when you opened up the car door the following day. When they did make it to the fridge, they would often just set there until it went bad.
Sometimes we would eat them though, by we I mean me. My wife will not eat leftovers. The kids would sometimes eat them but not very often.
We went through a lot of styrofoam containers over the years that we have been together. Mostly from take out that we didn’t eat or forgot about.
So if you don’t usually eat the leftovers from a restaurant, you might consider just not taking it home the next time you go out.
Another way we make a lot of waste is replacing things when they no longer work.
Reuse, don’t throw out.
There are a few things that we can’t reuse, the first thing that comes to my mind would be feminine hygiene products. Next up would be any kind of used first aid supplies.
I mean there are things that ladies can do to reduce the use of feminine products, but not many are on board with it. Frankly I can’t blame them. Not my specialty to talk about.
The biggest thing for me though is that I go through about a gallon jug of distilled water a week. I do have sleep apnea and I have to use distilled water with that.
I will keep the jug’s and either fill them with water, since we left our water storage jugs behind in Ohio, or I’ll use them to help seed starting for the garden. Those are the two biggest ways I reuse the water jugs.
One store a few town’s over carries the water jug with the handle, I like to use those for storing the water in because those last a lot longer and they are a bit stronger than those milk jug style.
Speaking of milk jugs, NEVER REUSE MILK JUGS.
When you reuse milk jugs, especially for storing water, you will notice some cloudiness in the water. No matter how well you clean and sanitize the milk jug, it will almost always still have residue left on the inside.
If you have something break around the house, instead of going out to buy a new one, why not see if you can’t just fix it?
Things like tv’s, especially nowadays are very hard to fix. They are all put together with whatever the cheapest material that they can get at the time. I’ve ran into this issue on numerous occasions.
Usually by the time a tv goes out, they have already stopped making the parts that you would normally replace the broken part with.
Other things that you can reuse, especially if you do have young children, is to use cloth diapers. My wife was completely against the idea of using them when she was a SAHM, but now that I’m staying home with the kids, we use the cloth diapers.
We only use them around the house, if we go out we usually put them in a disposable diaper. Although I might just start using the cloth diapers when we’re out and about. Our middle child doesn’t usually pee or poop when we go out, so we can save more diapers with just leaving him in a cloth diaper.
It also saves a lot of money also. We were spending around $100-$150 a month just for diapers between the kids. Now we only spend around $50 every few months buying the big pack of disposable diapers.
There are some reusable wipes as well, but I’ve looked into those because I did consider them since they would also save some money. I’ve seen that there is more upkeep with those, you also run into an issue with them becoming moldy if they sit too long.
Another thing I reuse is glass jars, not necessarily mason jars but the jars of alfredo sauce or salsa, things like that. I like to make big pots of soup, so what I like to do, this is something a close friend had suggested, is to put enough soup in a jar for one person for a meal, then stick it in the freezer.
That way you could just pull out a few jars in the morning and have it for supper.
I also like to put the green onions that you get from the store or the garden, in the glass jars and add water so the roots are submerged. I place them in front of the window so they get some light. This can help keep them fresher longer.
I have tried it with cilantro though, but it didn’t have a great outcome. I know it can be done, but I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong with it.
We keep some of the lids from the plastic water bottles or pop bottles. We have a huge and problem where we live. They are all over the yard, we do have a pretty big yard, but they also like to come inside.
We have came home and there would be a couple hundred ants crawling on the counter top. So what I do is I make up some poison, put it in the lid’s that we had saved and set them out. You can do this inside or outside, even in the garden. I have tried a few different recipe’s and so far nothing has got rid of them all.
They do come back, but it does kill a lot of them.
For the bottle’s that we do keep the lid on, you can wash them out and put some water in it, leave an inch or two from the top, put it in the freezer and you can have it as an ice block for your lunch box or whatever else. Growing up we would do this a few nights before a rodeo or a big event that we would be at and the temps outside were scorching.
But you can’t reuse everything, that is where Recycling comes in to play.
Recycling waste?
You hear it all the time now; We need to recycle to save the earth!
Recycling does have its perks, but there are also downfalls to it also.
When you go to the store and buy things, just about every where you go, their bags say something about them being recycled and that you should recycle them again.
Most times the bags rip as it is. But it doesn’t hurt to toss them in the recycling bucket at the store on your next trip in. They might work better the next go around.
You can also place the plastic bottles in that same bin to be recycled. I know that in some bigger cities, they offer a separate bin from the trash bin they give you. You can recycle some goods there. I’m not positive but I think that might be a separate charge on your bill from the regular trash.
I had thought that they were free, but then I’ve heard where some area’s do charge you for that service.
One thing that I used to do was just take metal to the scrap yard. Prices always fluctuate so sometime you can make more or less. It isn’t a lot of money but it sure beats having to pay someone to take your recyclable goods for you.
I know in some areas you can actually get paid to recycle things like glass jars and bottles. I don’t have anywhere around me that offers that.
If you want to get started with Reducing, Reusing or Recycling; Now is the best time to get started!
One big thing that would help wildlife is to cut the plastic holders that come with a case of gatorade or powerade, things like that. You see if a lot about an animal with their head stuck in one of the loops.
Tell me, what are some things that you currently do to reduce waste?