Many municipalities are setting goals for reducing the volume of garbage they must dispose of. Here are some ways you can help.

Recycling, of course, is a major way to reduce the waste stream. Want to learn how to recycle more of what you now throw away?

• Earth911.org is a magnificent resource. Click on their logo below. When you get to their site, enter your zip code and you will get a list of recycling centers and recycling-related information for your area.
  
• SaveTheEnvironment.com has compiled this handy list of recycling resources.
• North Carolina's Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance (DPPEA) offers a wealth of resources on recycling and other environmental matters.
• Special free offer from Save-the-Earth Support Services: if you want to know about recycling opportunities in your community, or you have something specific you want to recycle or find a new home for, e-mail us and we'll research your options.

Ideas for replacing disposable products with reusable alternatives:

• replace cardboard coffee cups...with travel mugs that you carry with you in your car or tote bag
• replace paper towels...with cloth napkins for the table and rags for cleaning and sopping up spills
• replace plastic food storage bags...with washable plastic containers for leftovers and lunches
• replace shopping bags ("plastic or paper?")... with canvas bags that you carry with you whenever you shop
• other ideas?...e-mail them to us!

Some disposable things that are hard to avoid can at least be reused for a while, for example:

• plastic produce bags and paper bags for bulk coffee beans can be emptied and put back into the canvas shopping bags for reuse next time you go to the store (until they get dirty or fall apart)
• e-mail us other suggestions!

You can eliminate much food and yard waste from your garbage pickup by composting. The state of North Carolina offers an online composting guide, where you can also get composting information for your county, including information on where to buy composting bins.

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Robert Lilienfeld and William Rathje's book Use Less Stuff: Environmental Solutions for Who We Really Are argues that recycling alone will not save us. We must begin to use less stuff in the first place. The book has lots of suggestions for how to do so, and an associated website and bimonthly newsletter provide more tips.

The Center for a New American Dream is forumulating a new American dream based not on consumption but on quality of life, environmental preservation, and social justice. Visit their website to learn more about these programs:

• Campaign to get corporations, governments, and churches to practice Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP)
• Conscious Consumer campaign
• Turn the Tide, which gives you nine actions you can take to save resources and cut pollution – and allows you to calculate the difference you’re making
• Step by Step, which suggests monthly letters and phone calls you can make to encourage businesses and government to make more environmentally sensitive decisions (my favorite: e-mail AOL's CEO and ask him to stop using all that metal and plastic in his wasteful direct mail campaigns!)

At www.myfootprint.org you can take an Ecological Footprint Quiz to find out how much you consume relative to your fellow citizens. Even better than the quiz is the personalized plan you can develop for reducing your footprint (just click "take action" after you complete the quiz). For more on the ecological footprint concept, visit the Global Footprint Network.

Adbusters conducts various campaigns against advertising and runaway consumerism.

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Co-op America is all about putting your money where your ideals are. It maintains several websites with a wealth of information on socially responsible investing, corporate responsibility, boycotts, sweatshops, and other issues.

Co-op America’s Green Pages directory lists 2,000 businesses that have satisfied its criteria for environmental and social responsibility. It is available online or in hard copy.

Co-op America co-sponsors Green Festivals in various cities to showcase green products and services.

The Center for a New American Dream’s Conscious Consumer campaign gives you ideas on how to get the most environmental and social bang for your buck.

ibuydifferent.org is a joint project of the Center for a New American Dream and the World Wildlife Fund that educates teens about the environmental consequences of their purchasing choices.

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If you live in the Triangle region of North Carolina, you can find public transit connections online at GoTriangle.org. It works like Mapquest: enter your departure address, destination, and departure time, and you will get routes, directions, and travel times. You can also see a list of stops along the route and a zoomable map of the route. The site has links to the websites of all the region's transit authorities.

Many other U.S. cities offer this service as well. Try Googling "online public transit trip planner" plus the name of your city or region.

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Do you ever get the feeling that a lot of supposedly convenient technologies and systems are being shoved down your throat? Many people are starting to put on the brakes and consider the impact of new conveniences before agreeing to participate. They are choosing to opt out of things like:

• “Favored Customer” cards that take bucks off our bill at chain stores – those savings aren’t coming free – details on our purchases are being stored in the company’s database for purposes of market research. But some people are choosing to forego the savings and keep their data to themselves.
• Automated systems that could cause real, live people to lose their jobs. Examples include the automated checkout aisles in grocery stores, automated directory assistance (you can dial “0” to get an operator when the automated voice asks “what city, please?”), the "Pay Credit Here" option at gas stations, and of course the ubiquitous ATM.
• Public opinion polls--In a recent speech, Arianna Huffington talked about her Partnership for a Poll-Free America, arguing that polls are inaccurate, misused, and have undue influence on public policy. (She says that pollsters advise politicians to pursue only "70% issues," i.e., issues that 70% or more of the public approves of.)
• Sensational media stories--This is another idea of Arianna's. She says that ancient Rome made the citizenry apathetic with a glut of festivals and orgies, and that the media are doing the same to us. She's turning off coverage of the latest scandal trial and looking underneath to the stories that are being ignored.
• Dollars! If you want to opt out of using the standard national currency, check out this worldwide directory of Local Economic Trading Systems. It lists organizations that engage in barter (where goods and services are exchanged with no money involved) and towns that have their own currency (to keep resources in the community). Here in Chapel Hill and the surrounding area, you can spend PLENTYs instead of dollars at participating businesses.

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Return to home page for links to environmental writers, editors, photographers, website designers, and others who can help environmental organizations achieve their mission more effectively.