Almost 2 weeks in, and we have done pretty well with avoiding garbage. There are less than 10 items in the garbage can, and we had to go out and buy a new "recycling only" garbage can. Composting is pretty easy and we started our second bin earlier this week. I have been trying to be more aware of how much waste I consume outside of the house. I have been saving all my tea bags (and want to start saving the coffee grounds) from work. When we go out to eat, we start by choosing places that don't use a lot of plastic or other waste, although last night we went out to eat with some friends and the restaurant served their food on styrofoam plates and only had plastic forks.
But we have been good otherwise, bringing home our napkins from lunch to be composted, not putting lids on cups, not using straws, and bringing home other leftover food that can be composted. Some of our waste is unavoidable, like packaging for baby furniture. But we have been reusing some of the packaging plastic bags and such. We composted some of the cardboard and recycled the rest of what we could.
Nicki and I have been talking about ways to have less waste around the house, and I think junk mail is really wasteful. I found a website that you can go to and fill out some info, including address and name. It also asks for your SSN but it is not required you fill it in. Once you sign up for the website you can manage everything from credit card offers, to catalogs, magazines, and all other junk mail. It's pretty easy to do and it takes less than 5 minutes.
Check out the website.
dmachoice.org
I looked up some reviews on the company. They are not supported by the BBB, but it seems that the USPS is affiliated with the service.
Wether you hate junk mail because it is a nuisance or just wanting to help the environment, you should consider signing up. I've read that 1 million trees are cut down a year to supply the amount of junk mail you receive each year. (one site stated it was 2.6 million) Junk mail also accounts for 1 billion pounds of landfill waste in the US. Thats assuming 50% of junk mail is recycled each year, which the all knowing wikipedia says is at 45%.
For more information about the statistics about junk mail check out the website below. It not only has statistics, but refers to the article or study where the information came from.
http://www.donotmail.org
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