[Sust-mar] waste reduction tips

[Paul A Falvo]

RECYCLED from Toronto's 2005/06 Curbside Collection Calendar.
Some of these are Ontario-specific but most apply anywhere.

BAD NEWS ABOUT BUTTS
Canadians flick hundreds of millions of cigarette butts on the ground each
year. Indoor smoking restrictions and a reluctance to use car ashtrays
have resulted in smokers using the great outdoors like a giant ashtray.
- cigarette butts are not biodegradable: they are made from toxic material,
not cotton, and can take decades to degrade
- wind and rain carry butts into our water supply
- animals, birds and fish mistake them for food
- cigarette liter causes numerous fires every year, some disastrous
What can you do?
- use outdoor ashtrays or have one installed
- carry a pocket ashtray
- TELL SMOKERS THEY ARE LITTERING!

HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE:
- buy only what you need
- share seldom used items

FRUIT comes in its own wrapper! Bananas and oranges don't need to be put
in clear plastic bags -- their skins are natural wrappers. Just put them
straight into your grocery cart. The fewer non-recylcable plastic bags you
bring home, the fewer you have to throw out. 
http://www.ontarioconserves.gov.on.ca

If you have an OLD FRIDGE running in your basement, the greenhouse gas and
smog produced to run it every year weighs as much as a fully grown bull
moose!

RECYCLE LEAVES - right back where they fell. After a summer of grass
clippings and produce scraps, your backyard composter likely needs some
'brown' material. Use your lawnmower to chop them up (mulch) and use them:
- around trees and shrubs as mulch
- on your lawn to decay and return nutrients to the soil
- dug into your garden to add nutrients and moisture-retention

During the HOLIDAY SEASON use reusable gift bags and boxes, give gifts
with minimal packaging, and consider giving gifts that don't require
wrapping -- concert tickets, memberships or gift certificates for
interesting classes.

If you've just recycled a large box/bag of NEWSPRINT, you've just recycled
as much paper as you can get out of a 20-year-old tree (better yet don't
buy a daily paper in the first place!). It takes 90 litres of water to
create 1 kg of new newsprint. 

Every kwh of energy you use creates over 900g of greenhouse gas and smog.
The pollution a 60-watt bulb creates in three hours weighs as much as a
billiard ball!

~Paul 
_______________________________________________________
Sustainable Maritimes: an email-a-day of local green news.
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Keep Canada's North pristine ... and keep Canada in Kyoto!
Sign on to the Mackenzie Wild Declaration 
http://www.mackenziewild.ca

.....P
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