A recent trending topic in the Twitter world is #WastelessWed (Wasteless Wednesday). Have you seen this hash tag come up in recent weeks? If you haven’t, be ready to! A new movement has broken into the green space. Wasteless Wednesday is a day to analyze how much we are wasting and together how we can Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle More!
There real question here is why wouldn’t you participate? Perhaps environmental issues are simply not at the forefront of your life. Maybe you just feel that it will take too much of your time for you to be effective. Whatever the reason may be, I am about to show you 3 easy ways to get you started out with Wasteless Wednesday.
TIP 1: Try packing an ‘almost’ litter less lunch! I realize that with all the packaging that comes on food these days it can be difficult to pack a completely litter less lunch (although it is possible). Do you have small re-sealable containers that you could put your lunch in instead of plastic wrap? That is one way you can make a difference on Wasteless Wednesdays. If you are feeling really ambitious with this one, try starting your own small compost in your backyard at home. Any food scraps or peelings you may have had from lunch, put them back in your container and add them to your compost collection container when you get home. You may even find yourself wanting to do it every day of the week after you see the quality of soil composting makes!
TIP 2: Collect your own rain water for plants instead of using your town’s water supply. Setting a rain barrel outside to collect rain water is almost as easy as 1-2-3. 1- You find/buy a good quality rain barrel. 2-Next you will have to place the rain barrel in an open space in your back or front yard. This will be a place that the rain will fall into the rain barrel when it rains. 3- Next Wednesday when you are about to water your gardens with town water, remember you have thirst quenching rain water for your thirsty plants!
TIP 3: Just in case you are starting to think that tips 1 and 2 aren’t for you, we have saved the best or ‘easiest’ for last! Try reusing some paper to make a notepad for your home or office. We have all got emails, mail, or newsletters from schools that get looked at once and then recycled or even worse… thrown away. Instead why not give your scrap paper a second life? You can cut your scrap paper into 4 equal pieces and staple it in the top corner, voila! You now have a perfectly good notepad to keep track of important messages or reminders. Does it get any better? It sure does! Once you are finished with your new notepad, be sure to collect it in a convenient recycling container designed especially for recycled paper collection. Once complete, you will have been environmentally friendly, you have reused paper into a new notepad, and you have done your part on Wasteless Wednesday!
Now that you have eased into the Wasteless Wednesday world, what else can you do to make a difference?
by Mike James
