Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce.
Reducing the amount of material we put into the waste stream is essential. We can do this by knowing what goes where because not everything can be recycled, and not everything can be thrown away.
⦾ Food waste such as unopened cans and salvagable foods can be donated to places such as the Westside Food Bank, Food Share, Inc., and Food Finder, Inc.
⦾ Electronic Waste cannot ever go into traditional trash bins. That includes items ranging from tvs, to phones, laptops, double A's, and tiny button batteries. E-waste should all be taken to round-ups run by your local city. Malibu, Calabasas, Oxnard, and Agoura Hills all work together to try to service Northern LA County residents as well as southern Ventura County.
⦾ Hazardous waste also cannot be disposed of in the home. Hazardous waste as defined below can be collected through various city run round ups: MalibuCalabasas, and Agoura all have fabulous monthly programs set up to help residents dispose of their hazardous goods. There are many many more of these round ups to specific to different cities to help services those communities.
Reuse.
Reusing just takes time to think ahead and be creative to find ways to own reusable materials to help our planet! Below are some ideas for sustainable materials to reuse:
⦾ Use reusuable straws instead of single use ones for your drinks at starbucks or that soda.
⦾ Use reusable water bottles. There are so many out there now, and stores such as coffee shops are beginning to allow you to refill your own bottle instead of wasting a cup.
⦾ Tupperware/ plastic containers are a great alternative when taking lunches to work and saving leftovers
⦾ Reusable bags are great when out shopping for groceries, or anything. Most people throw their department store bags away, but you could also use those for lunch bags.
⦾ The most important take away from the reduce section is learning to be concious about how much material we contribute to the waste stream on a daily basis and trying to cut down on that amount and getting the most use out of the products that we do use.
Recycle.
Knowing what you can and can't recycle is hard to remember. Below we have created a list of the things you can put into the recycling cans at your homes and items you can't.
