Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

You're brushing your hair, and comb breaks. So you throw it away.

You eat breakfast and don't have a recycling bin to throw away that package. So you throw it away.

You're eating lunch and you throw away the tray, including the utensils and the wad of napkins you picked up "just in case."

See the pattern?

Please enjoy my illustrations. Yes, that is supposed to be a Chihuahua.

On average, each person in the United States produces about 4.6 pounds of trash per day. That's the weight of a two-liter bottle of soda. That's the weight of a chihuahua.

Over the course of one year, the U.S. produces about 230 million tons of waste per day (1). That's the equivalent of about 2,836 Washington Monuments.

Given that the American lifestyle is fairly hectic, it seems hard to give up the comfort of disposable goods. However, this is probably the biggest way that we, as the general public, can help reduce waste.

That's the key word: Reduce.

Out of the three R's, "reduce", or source reduction, is the most important. If you never created something, how can it affect the world around you? Or more simply, if you never produce the garbage, how can it affect the environment? Source reduction means less waste will be put into landfills or end up in the ocean.

But just because Reduce is the most important does not mean that you can forget about Reuse and Recycle.

Let's look at a few things that you can do.

If you don't want to read all of it, look at the italicized Reduce, Reuse, Recycle in each section.

1. Pack up the Packaging

Packaging makes up about 30% of our waste generation. That's 77.9 million tons (2).

Just think about it.

The bread. The cookies. The pasta. The milk. The cereal. All of it comes in, sometimes excessive, packaging that always ends up in the trash. It's even worse if you buy things in small quantities. Those boxes and bags add up. It doesn't go away when you throw it in the trash can.

Reduce - Buy things in bulk (think Sams Club or Costco). This means that you get more of the same product for less packaging. A lot of the time this means you save some money as well.

Reuse - Those plastic containers? Reuse them for storage. Use it as a pencil cup. That milk jug? Fill it up with sand and use it as a dumbbell. Use it to grow some plants indoors. Use it as a doorstop. Make a bird feeder. The possibilities are endless.

Recycle - Pensacola is lucky to have an extensive recycling program. Most things that you would have are recyclable and can be picked up by the city with their curbside recycling program. Sign up for the recycling program or see a list of locations where you can drop of your recyclables at ECUA's website. Check out the City of Pensacola's website for their list of recyclable items.

2. Put the Plastic Away

How many plastic things do you see around you right now? How many plastic things are in your backpack? How many plastic things are in your house? It's probably much more than you think.

It's impossible to fully get rid of plastic because of its convenience and role in society right now. But, think about the biggest source of plastic you probably create right now.

Grocery shopping and water bottles.

Every time you go to Publix, Target, Walmart, or even Barnes and Noble, they give you one or more plastic bags. Currently, almost 100 million plastic bags are used in the U.S. every year (3).

1500 plastic bottles are used in the U.S. per second.

Plastic bottles are given out at every opportunity. At stores, games, public events, you name it. Someone is selling plastic water bottles. Americans buy about 50 billion water bottles per year, and most of that can end up leaking harmful chemicals into the Earth or causing birds to choke on caps and rings (4).

Reduce - Use a tote or cloth bag to carry your groceries. Or, invest in a reusable bag from your local grocery store. The "effort" it takes to invest in and remember the bag when you go shopping is much less than the effect that plastic shopping bags can have on the environment. Buy a reusable water bottle. They're usually pretty cheap, but they can save you hundreds of dollars and plastic bottles annually.

Reuse - Use the plastic bags you already have for trash bags. Use it to hold your laundry or your gym clothes. Use it as a lunch bag for a while. Make it a goal to hold onto it for at last a week before throwing it away.

Recycle - PENSACOLA DOES NOT RECYCLE PLASTIC BAGS. You cannot put them in your recycling bins. However, you can take your plastic bags with you the next time you go shopping. A number of grocery stores in Pensacola have bins where you can put your plastic bags. The stores will recycle them or reuse them, keeping them out of the waste system for a bit longer.

3. Finish Your Food

Most of what I've been saying has been focused on plastics and packaging.

But food is also a huge part of the U.S. production of waste.

Food waste per year in the U.S. is estimated to be about 30-40% of the food supply, or 133 billion pounds and $161 billion (5). That's more than the net worth of Jeff Bezos (the CEO of Amazon).

The causes of food waste from the general population can be boiled down into two words: Too much.

How many of us have bought a couple packages of food because they were on sale, only to be unable to finish them before they spoiled? How many of us cook more than we need and just choose to throw away the extras? How many of us can't finish what's on our plate and sneak it to the dog?

All of that food waste adds up. Even the kitchen scraps that you create when you peel a potato contribute to that.

Reduce - Make a grocery list before you go to the store to avoid buying too much of what you don't need. When you cook, calculate how much you need to make and how long you want it to last so you don't make enough pasta for your entire grade. Be aware of how much food you're getting at the lunch line. If you can't finish everything you put on your tray, give it to someone else or put it back. Don't just throw it away.

Reuse - You can't really reuse food waste. Or can you? Stale bread? Make some bread pudding or french toast. Make some croutons or breadcrumbs. Brown bananas? Make some banana bread. Soft apples? Make some applesauce. Check out this website for more ways to use almost-spoiled or spoiled food.

Recycle - Don't want to use any of those? Put them together with your kitchen scraps and start a compost pile! Some papers and yard scraps can be put in a compost pile as well. For full instructions on how to start composting, go here. It's really not as hard as you think it may be! If done properly, it won't smell either. Pretty soon, you'll have beautiful soil that can be used to start a garden or to simply make your yard look better.

It may seem intimidating, but it's not as hard as you think to help the environment. Try to do just one of the things on this list and you'll be contributing!

Live Green everyone!

1. "Solid Waste." Garbage, Annenberg Foundation, 2016, www.learner.org/exhibits/garbage/solidwaste.html. Accessed 2 Sept. 2019.

2. "Containers and Packaging: Product-Specific Data." EPA, United States Environmental Protection Agency, 7 May 2019, www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/containers-and-packaging-product-specific-data#PlasticC&P. Accessed 2 Sept. 2019.

3. Larsen, Janet. "Plastic Bags Fact Sheet." Earth Policy Institute, Rutgers University, Oct. 2014, www.earth-policy.org/images/uploads/press_room/Plastic_Bags.pdf. Accessed 2 Sept. 2019.

4. "Fact Sheet: Single-Use Plastics." Earth Day Network, 29 Mar. 2018, www.earthday.org/2018/03/29/fact-sheet-single-use-plastics/#_ftn5. Accessed 2 Sept. 2019.

5. "Food Waste FAQs." USDA, U.S. Department of Agriculture, www.usda.gov/foodwaste/faqs. Accessed 2 Sept. 2019.