Burning and burying our trash leads to carbon pollution. We need to phase out these old, polluting incinerators and landfills and replace them with zero-waste alternatives. By doing so, we can help lower climate-damaging emissions and protect our communities and the environment.
We don’t have good systems for dealing with our waste other than throwing a mix of toxic junk into our garbage cans. But we could. The truth is, it’s not a question of whether we should bury or burn our waste. What we should be asking is this: how do we produce less trash?
Making any life change takes time, and the same goes for slashing your trash – including what goes in your recycling bin. That’s why we’ve put together this list of tips to help you get started.
Food and yard waste hurt our economy and environment. But home composting can help! Get your backyard compost started using these handy guidelines.
One of the best ways to slash your trash is to reuse or repurpose what you already have, rather than buying something new. Check out this infographic and see how you can give these five items new life.
For too long we’ve relied on outdated and polluting systems to deal with our trash. What we need are new, sustainable systems that aim to reduce the trash in our lives, while protecting our people and our planet. And we can make that happen right now.
Humans have been producing trash for generations. But how we dispose of it hasn’t improved in ages. By implementing zero-waste policies, we can begin to redesign our waste systems and produce less trash – while also protecting our environment and our communities.
Experts are refuting the plastic industry’s claims that reusable bags carry and transmit COVID-19. One public health expert, Dr. Ben Locwin, spoke with CLF about why reusables do not increase the risk of infection, and how washing your reusables with soap or detergent reduces any theoretical risk of transmission.
The waste industry claims that their so-called “waste-to-energy” technologies can help combat the climate crisis by reducing climate-damaging emissions. But these claims are misleading and inaccurate. Burning trash to create energy will not solve the climate crisis or our growing waste problem.
Although some New England states pioneered the bottle return system, they have since fallen behind. But New England can improve its recycling by updating or adopting bottle return systems in each state. This would help reduce litter in our neighborhoods, parks, and waterways; it would keep recyclable material out of landfills and incinerators; and it would lift some recycling costs off of communities.
