Family recycling
Earth Day often serves as a guilt-inducing reminder us of what we aren’t doing. These problems feel too large for one person--or even one family-- to tackle. But what if you adopted just one or two greener habits? For example, if you typically bring home four plastic bags of groceries home per week, just using cloth bags will result in a savings of 16 plastic bags per month and 192 bags per year! Read on for easy ways to reduce your family’s trash output.
- Ditch plastic water bottles. Invest in reusable cups for water and other beverages such as coffee and tea. Remembering to bring your cup with you, (or for kids, to bring it home from school) will take some getting used to, but it will soon become a habit. A plus is that your coffee or tea will taste better and keep hotter in a china mug.
- Stop buying single-serve packages. Those cups of fruit, pudding and fruit snacks sure are convenient, but the trash produced from these can be overwhelming. Instead, purchase larger amounts and divide into into single-serve reusable containers. Ounce for ounce, larger jars and packages are usually cheaper too!
- Bring your own bags to the grocery store. Many cities have gone so far as to ban plastic bags! Most stores offer their own reusable bags for a few dollars. You might even find a few cloth bags around the house that you can employ for this purpose. For those times when you forget your bag, choose paper bags over plastic.
- Buy in bulk when possible. Many stores offer bulk bins in which you scoop as much or as little as you need of flour, sugar, nuts, and many other dry goods. Not only are bulk goods cheaper, but there is less packaging, especially if you bring your own bags! In Naples, check Whole Foods, Fresh Market and the new Lucky’s store on the East Trail for bulk options.
- Buy and use recyclable mesh bags for fruits and vegetables. Produce bags are created from plastic and aren’t recyclable in all cities. You can buy reusable mesh bags and use these to bring home your fruits and veggies. A bonus to using mesh instead of plastic is that you can store produce in the bag and the material allows for air circulation, so food says fresh longer.
- Compost. Take advantage of curbside pickup of food and yard waste. You can also try home composting. Here’s a tutorial to help you get started: www.epa.gov/recycle/composting-home
- Decrease your use of disposable flatware and napkins. Buy a cheap set of flatware from a discount or thrift store to pack in lunchboxes, and replace paper napkins with cloth. Be sure to purchase napkins that are machine washable. Cotton napkins offer superior absorbency and dark colors or prints will hide stains!
- Replace paper towels with rags. Use cut up cotton T-shirts or holey socks or even inexpensive washcloths. You can also purchase “unpaper towels” from many sellers on Etsy. These come with snaps to connect the towels and can be put on a paper towel holder for convenience. Search “unpaper towels” on Etsy for options.
- Invest in a reusable K-Cup. If you use a single cup brewing coffee machine, such as Keurig, invest in a reusable K-Cup, then just fill with your own coffee grounds and still brew a perfect cup!
- Review the recycling and composting rules for Collier County. You might find that you can be recycling more than you realized, or conversely you might find out that what you’ve been putting into your recycle bin isn’t allowed and ends up in the landfill. For instance, a lot of Neapolitans don’t realize that items shouldn’t be placed inside of bags in the recycling bin. You can review the rules at: www.colliergov.net/i-want-to/recycle/recycling. You’ll also find a video on recycling on the website.
Even if you adopt only one or two of these greener practices, it will have an impact. And if everyone reduces their garbage output, together we can make a difference!
TIFFANY DOERR GUERZON is a freelance writer specializing in family topics.