Recycle everything that you can
We luckily live in an area that allows us to recycle, so take advantage of this service by putting every type of recyclable item that you can through the recycling. Make an effort to organize your home so that it is just as easy to recycle something as to put it in a trash bin. Need more bins? Contact Allied Waste, our trash and recyling service provider! Remember, anything in a trash can will ultimately be put into a landfill and will not get recycled (even if it is recycleable). Sorting between trash and recycle happens primarily in the home. So, pay attention to what can be recycled and what cannot and be sure to instruct others in your home, especially children! If you are in a location away from home that does not have proper bins to sort garbage from recycleable materials (like at a park, in a store or at a friend's home), ask that they provide the bins needed or take home your recycleable materials to be properly recycled.

Minimize Waste
Recycling as much as possible is the first way to minimize waste. But not purchasing items that will necessarily result in a lot of garbage can make a really big difference. Here are some suggestions to avoid unnecessary amounts of waste:

• When possible, avoid purchasing containers (such as styrofoam and coated paper cups) that cannot be recycled locally.
• Think ahead and bring your own reusable mug to the coffee shop
• Think ahead and store your reusable bags in your car (and remember to take them into the store)
• Don't purchase products that are intended for single use and then disposal. These are things like cheap, plastic toys, plastic spoons and forks, styrofoam containers and plastic-coated foods, etc. Not only are these very bad for the environment, they are often made with bad plastics that are unhealthy as well.
• Avoid purchasing single-serve packaged food items (and help your family stay healthier by not having their food wrapped in unknown plastics). Many of these types of foods and drinks come in containers that are not recyclelable, like celo-plastics and multilayer boxes. You should insist on packaging that is recycleable.
• Buy larger sizes of containers for food and drink and conserve waste by packing smaller meal amounts in safe reusable containers.
• Check out the Californians Against Waste web site for more info!

Replace Virgin Materials with Post-Consumer Content Products
We are losing forests at the rate of nearly 36 million acres a year, due to unsustainable harvesting techniques. However, if the demand for virgin paper products decreased, much of this loss can be reduced. Here are recommendations to help you reduce your demand for virgin wood pulp products (and to keep from receiving unwanted paper):

• Only buy office paper that is made from post-consumer material. 100% post consumer material content paper is available very high quality.
• Purchase home tissue products from post-consumer materials. (If everyone replaced just one toilet paper roll, we'd save 500,000 trees!). See this fun Grist TP review!
• Eliminate your use of disposable paper products as much as possible, including paper plates, paper napkins, paper towels, etc. Use real plates (or reusable plastic that can be washed), cloth napkins and cloth towels, for healthier and more environmentally sound living.
• Reduce your unwanted junk mail: CatalogueChoice, GreenDimes, New Dream, etc.
  

Look for creative ways to Reuse what you don't need
A Menlo-Park non-profit called Re-Art accepts cast-offs from printing mistakes, remnants, overstocks, millends and doodads that are not quite right for your business to give creative opportunities to local children. Rather than purchasing new, this group creatively uses items that would otherwise go into the landfill. Expensive oopsies become tax-deductible donations! Other groups that do similar things include:

• Scrap (Scroungers' Center for Reusable Art Parts): a creative reuse center, store and workshop space in San Francisco
• RAFT (Resource Area for Teachers) in San Jose: provides creative hands-on activities, educational resources, workshops and inexpensive art materials to enrich pre K-12 programs.
• East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse: every teacher's first stop and every artist's second home.

Compost your Food Waste
Composting is a true delight and can bring hours of fun for kids. It is nature's form of recycling for organic waste. While it requires that you get into your garden boots and work clothes, it brings you back to nature and it provides you with an almost guaranteed green thumb for your garden. Through composting, you can turn all of your food waste into a nutrient-rich soil and natural fertilizer that replenishes your garden's soil without artificial chemicals. Very little is required, as nature does most of the work. You can sit back and enjoy seeing the amount that you put into trash reduced by more than half (for most families)! Check out RecycleWorks for more information about composting and other sustainable gardening techniques and see if you qualify for a free compost bin.

Understanding the Importance of Good Soil
The basis of all wealth? Or just something to be cleaned off your nine-year old? When you compost, you are restoring vital nutrients into the soil. Check out this interesting perspective from Celsias: "Soil — Our Financial Institution"