GreenBrig

Who likes junk mail? No one, except the people who are sending it to you. Everyday I get junk mail, but I do try to throw it into the recycling bin. But half the damage is already done by printing and mailing it all over the country. If we can minimize the number of these ads being printed, I think we can reduce our Carbon foot print.
If you are using these mailers to find good deals, then fine. There are useful coupons and flyers that might save you a buck or two. But if you have a computer at home, you can mostly find all those coupons online. All those companies have websites with printable coupons, or better you can load them on to your local grocery store loyalty cards. This way you don’t need to feel embarrassed about going thru you envelopes of coupons and checking expiration dates. You get the discount as soon as you swipe you loyalty card and you buy the advertised products.
Now back to junk mail – there are many ways to stop junk mail and not just those coupons but also credit card offers that many times can have harmful information if the wrong person gets a hold of it. This website gives you many ways to get onto “Stop Mailing” lists and turning off paper bills.
http://green.yahoo.com/living-green/stopping-junk-mail.html

Also another key point is that if you stop paper statements and change them into email notifications, some companies even give you discounts (at least for a couple of months). I personally like email and online statements since I can compare and find old archived statements. A lot of time I get the statement and I file it away, only to not be able to find it later. This is especially helpful if you are moving or filing legal documents.

Try these little tricks out and hopefully your world will get a little less messy.

Nowadays, many cities are making recycling part of their waste management programs. You no longer need to separate the paper from the plastic or cans. In our neighborhood the community gave us a green bin and you basically throw everything in it that can be recycled. They even gave us a handy cheat sheet that is on our fridge to remind us that many of the daily products that is used can be recycled. If it has a little recycling symbol on it, it goes into the green bin. We are so good with recycling that for the two of us, we only have to put the trash out to be picked only every other week. We have more to recycle than trash. It is a great feeling knowing that all that you buy does not necessary need to be thrown away.

Some of the common things that are recycled are newspapers, junk mail, cans, milk jugs. But you might also want to know that since the birth of the Internet no one uses the phone books that is given to us. We throw those huge phone books into the green bins as soon as they are given to us. I wish there is a way to stop them from showing up in the first place, but that is a different task.

Other things are aluminum foils and trays, aerosol cans, house hold cleaning containers. Also regular plastic, glass or metal containers. You no longer need to peel the label out or clean them out. Recycling facilities are able to handle all that very well.

I mostly reuse the plastic grocery bags as trash bags at the kitchen or bathrooms, but if you have too many laying around the house, you can definitely throw them into the recycling bins. Another option is many grocery stores have bins outside their stores where you can recycle these plastic bags. Now that you have given away all you plastic bags, you should invest in a couple of re-usable grocery bags. Their only $1 in most places, and some stores even give you a 5 cent to 10 cent discount for every bag you use. So after 20 uses, you are basically getting 5 cents back. I really don’t see why more people haven’t switched to re-usable bags.

Another way to reduce your trash is by starting a compost pit in your backyard. I wanted to do this, but after reading about it online, it just seemed like a lot of work. Plus it stinks if you don’t have it covered. If you are hard core into recycling, then you should definitely think about the compost pit. Plus you will have wonderful top soil for your garden. I don’t have an amazing garden and I don’t have the patience into collecting all the decomposable material. I mostly throw thinks into the garbage disposal and grind them in (make sure they are soft enough). Otherwise I throw them into the trash.

You don’t necessarily need to recycle to reduce your trash; you can re-use them. For example you can re-use the hand soap pumps that you use in the bathrooms. I just buy the liquid in bulk and then fill the pumps up once they are empty. The same goes for spray bottles. After the first time, I get the cleaning liquids in a “refill” pack and fill the spray bottles with them. I know this sounds and might look very cheap, but if you buy those liquids in bulk, like from Costco, the unit price is so much less than the once in the little bottles. So in addition to saving the environment, you also save money.

Ultimately someone is paying for all the trash you throw away. It usually is you, mostly in-directly. So changing the way we live will definitely save you money in the long run.

Poly Wood is an environmentally friendly alternative to regular wood furniture. PolyWood is made mainly from recycled plastic milk cartons, and is used to make durable, attractive outdoor furniture. Invented in 1990 by Doug Rassi and Mark Phillabaum, PolyWood helps prevent countless trees from being cut down to build outdoor furniture in addition to keeping tons of plastic milk jugs from landfills and promoting green living. PolyWood recycled plastic furniture is produced by Poly~Wood, Inc.

Durable Recycled Plastic Furniture

Outdoor patio chairs and tables, in addition to all the other Poly Wood furniture, have proven to be extremely durable, unaffected by weather, moisture and sunlight. Furthermore, the non-porous nature of PolyWood plastic lumber allows PolyWood furniture to be left outdoors for year-round green living. Regular cleaning with soap and water keeps them looking clean and attractive over time. Poly Wood recycled plastic furniture are also heavy-duty and do not fly around in the wind. Unlike wood outdoor furniture, those made from PolyWood recycled plastic do not rot or deteriorate over time, and do not splinter, crack or require repainting. Although more expensive than regular wood furniture, Poly Wood alternatives last longer, are easier to maintain, and help reduce cutting down trees for lumber, make them the environmentally friendly choice for true green living. In addition, the high quality PolyWood recycled plastic furniture usually come with a 5 year warranty for residential use.

Attractive and Practical Outdoor Furniture

PolyWood recycled plastic furniture come in 6 different colors and over a hundred different models of chairs and other outdoor pieces. PolyWood plastic lumber is engineered to look and feel like actual wood. Made from recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pastic that have been purified and UV protected, Poly Wood outdoor furniture do not fade or lose color over time. They are also much more resistant to stains than wood furniture.

Over time, Poly~Wood, Inc has increased the types of environmentally friendly outdoor furniture available. In addition to patio chairs and tables, there are now benches, rockers and bar stools. It is now possible to furnish an entire patio with Poly Wood premium recycled plastic furniture. Furthermore, they are as comfortable to sit on and use as regular wood furniture, making it an attractive choice for those considering an environmentally friendly green living alternative.

PolyWood outdoor furniture made from environmentally friendly recycled plastic is available from Amazon.com as well as various local retailers.

Making subtle changes to our shopping patterns is a simple path towards environmental sustainability. There are various things that consumers can in their everyday lives do to promote environmental responsibility. Taking reusable bags when going grocery shopping helps eliminate piles of disposable ones. Using rechargeable batteries instead of disposable ones leads to less toxic waste in our landfills. And using washable rags helps to reduce the amount of paper towels we use, and leads to less trees being cut down. There are even biodegradable trash bags that are an environmentally responsible alternative to regular plastic bags.

In general, buying recycled products helps us lead more sustainable lifestyles. The variety of recycled products available to the regular consumer has increased exponentially over the last few decades. Recycled paper products and recyclable plastic packaging are ubiquitous today. However, market demand for sustainable products needs to increase even further in order to encourage more green alternatives. Eco-friendly products are usually more expensive than their conventional counterparts, but tend to last longer and are of higher quality in addition to being sustainable. Therefore, it is imperative for environmentally conscious consumers to seek out such green alternatives in their everyday lives.