OK LOCAL FRIENDS!!
I am not, by any means, a zero waste person. But I AM passionate about resource utilization, creative recycling, and throwing a way just a little bit less. We challenge our family of 6 to use the smallest trash bin. We've come up with a list in case you want some local ideas!
7 LOCAL Ways To Waste Less 
1)Utilize your curbside bins to the fullest. This one is huge! In our neighborhood, we have a trash bin, a blue mixed recycling bin (what's allowed has changed in recent years- check out the current list), a green food compost and yard debris bin, and a red recycling crate. Where we live we can even recycle all food waste and plain paper napkins/paper plates that aren't coated in your yard debris bin. See comprehensive list here. There is probably more that you can recycle than you realized! You might be surprised that you can even recycle household batteries with your glass in the red crate!
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| Don't throw these away! |
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| Compost these! Or use them broken up in pieces around plants in your garden to deter slugs. |
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| Compost your coffee filters, coffee grounds and all! These also make great (dry) snack bowls. Less dishes and then my kids can just throw them in the compost. |
2) Donate to a thrift store: Goodwill, Union Gospel Mission store, Teen Challenge, and more. There are plenty of places to donate usable items that you don't need anymore. It gives others a chance to buy them at a more affordable price and also helps create jobs.
3) Donate things on your neighborhood's BuyNothing page via Facebook: I like to give away unique items on my neighborhood's BuyNothing page on Facebook. You can post items that you don't need and arrange to gift them to a neighbor. You can also request items on this page! Everything is free.
4) Recycle unusable cloth/clothing items at UGM: OK...this is a newer discovery for us and very exciting. I like to donate items. But we all know kids (and sometimes us grown up!) leave items unusable with rips, stains, etc. The Union Gospel Mission has a clothing recycling program!! Their website (scroll down to bottom of the page) says this:
"Our Donation Center accepts ripped, stained, and torn clothing, bags, purses, belts, stuffed animals, hats, and shoes. Worn out items that are ready to be tossed get baled, weighed, and sold for profit. 100% of the money raised from these bales goes toward programs and services UGM offered to men and women experiencing homelessness, and fighting addictions."
In addition to a Goodwill bag, I also have a recycling bag going where we toss really old towels, socks with holes in them, or completely disintegrating clothing (thank you Son), shoes that can't be re worn, etc. I love that I can keep these things out of the landfill and that, by recycling them, it will benefit our homeless mission,
5) Recycle Styrofoam at Fresh Start Market: I generally avoid styrofoam like the plague but it does often come in packaging so it's just not avoidable sometimes. It isn't biodegradable and takes some 500 years to decompose. However, there is a local place you where you can recycle it!! Fresh Start Market has styrofoam recycling bins at the back of their business. It does require you saving it and bringing it there but we find it worth the work. I tell my husband- instead of flowers, my love language is totally him recycling my styrofoam for me LOL.
6) Donate your toilet: This is probably not a very frequent need, but we moved over a year ago and are finally working on replacing the toilets. What is one supposed to do with a working toilet?? Donate it of course. You can call Bargain Barn in town and see if they will take more toilet donations.
7) Recycle deposit cans/bottles at a Bottle Drop. We have three different Bottle Drop sites in Salem. Find the one most convenient to you. They assign you an account and coordinating bags. You fill it up with deposit bottles and cans. When it's full you drop off the bag and credit goes into your account. If getting to a Bottle Drop is too much work many people collect them for fundraisers and some schools even have customized bags/accounts that they will give out for you to fill and drop off.
There you have it!! Do you have other ideas to add??
Happy resource utilization. 😊
