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Each year, we generate billions of tons of waste in our homes, our offices and our communities. But with a few changes in your office and your home, you can reduce waste, the amount of garbage in landfills, and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere. You can also make the world a cleaner and better place to live. Check out the tips below to learn how to reduce waste at home and at the office.

1
Buy in bulk. Bulk products usually have less packaging and wrapping, and you also save money by buying bulk. Packaging makes up 30 percent of the weight and 50 percent of trash by volume for most products.
- Look for bulk items made of recycled content, especially for products such as toilet paper, tissues and napkins.
- Be aware of double packaging, even for bulk items. Some "bulk packages" are individually packaged items that are packaged again and sold as "bulk."
2
Shop for durable products. Look for items that will last for years, rather than disposable or cheaply made products.
- This could mean going for a more expensive clothing item, rather than fast fashion items that will fall apart in a few weeks. Skip disposable razors, a big waste culprit, and invest in a reusable shaving razor. Go for rechargeable batteries, or plug-in appliances, and reusable items.
- Avoid buying individually packaged items, such as candies, chocolate bars or even to-go snacks. The amount of waste these products create outweighs their convenience.
- Try not to shop spontaneously for items you may not need. Before you buy an item, consider how often you will use it and how long it will last.^[1] Investing in quality products means less waste and less trips to the store.^[2]
3
Look for items at second-hand stores. One person's waste could be someone else's treasure. Second-hand stores are a great way to purchase household items free of packaging or wrapping. You can also find great used and unused items (especially clothing) at a low cost to you and the environment.
- Look in your closet for clothing you haven't worn in the last year. Rather than throw the clothes away, donate them to second-hand stores or thrift stores.
- You could also throw a clothing swap party with friends to encourage some friendly barter and trade for used goods.
4

Borrow, rather than buy. Whenever possible, look for reusable options before you buy anything new. This could be borrowing tools from your neighbor or renting tools or supplies from a store, rather than spending money on a new item.^[3]
5

Bring your own reusable bags with you to the grocery store, or limit the amount of plastic bags you take. Keep a few cloth bags in the back of your car or stashed in your purse so you have them ready when you go shopping.
6

Repair items, rather than replace them. If you already own an item but it's in need of repair, bust out your toolbox and give it some tender loving care. Replacing the item means the broken item will become waste and end up in a landfill.
7

Take your lunch to work in reusable containers. Take-out containers are often made of styrofoam or plastic, waste that is hard to break down and can't be recycled. So skip the take-out meals and take your lunch to work in Tupperware. Not only will you cut down on waste, you will also save money on lunch every day.
8
Make your kitchen paperless and more eco-friendly. Use cloth dishrags instead of paper towels or swap paper napkins for cloth napkins.
- Create a recycling area in your kitchen. Rather than throw out your bottles, cans and plastics, set up blue and green recycling bins in your home, next to the garbage. This will encourage members of your household to recycle on a daily basis.
- Look for ways to reuse empty jars and bins in your kitchen. Rinse out empty glass jars from your mustard or your pickles and use them to hold kitchen utensils or dry food items.
- Replace hazardous household cleaners and products with safer alternatives. Make your own household cleaners using baking soda, water and vinegar. Olive oil with lemon juice is a good alternative to furniture polish.^[4]
- Scented candles, especially ones made from soy, are a good alternative to plug in air fresheners.
9
Set up a backyard compost. Food and yard waste account for about 11 percent of the garbage thrown away in most mid-sized U.S. cities. Composting scraps and waste is a great way to dispose of them in an eco-friendly way.^[5]
- Find a dry shady spot near a water source. Add brown and green materials, such as leaves, twigs and grass clippings, to the spot. Shred or chop any large pieces.
- Moisten the dry materials with water as they are added to the pile. Alternatively, you can use a round or square bin if your backyard isn't big enough for a large pile. Be sure to add dirt to the bin first before you add brown and green materials.
- Once your compost pile is established, mix more grass clippings and green waste, such as fruit scraps and coffee groups, into the pile. Bury fruit and vegetable waste under 10 inches (25.4 cm) of compost material.
- You can also cover the compost with a tarp to keep it moist. When the material at the bottom of the compost is dark and rich in color, your compost is ready to use. This usually takes anywhere between two months to two years.
- If you have a wood-burning fireplace in your home, save the ashes in a tin rather than throwing them out. Cold wood ashes can be mixed into your outdoor compost heap and add valuable nutrients to your garden.
10
Set up indoor composting. If you don't have the outdoor space for a big compost pile, compost indoors using a special compost bin. Look for this bin at your local hardware store or gardening supply store, or make one yourself.^[6]
- Make sure you have an even amount of green material, such as vegetable waste, fruit scraps and coffee grounds, in the compost bin. Add water to keep the compost moist.
- Tend to the compost and keep track of what you throw in there. A properly managed compost bin will not attract pests or rodents and will not smell badly.
- You should be able to use your indoor compost in two to five weeks.
11
Reduce the amount of unwanted mail you receive. The average American resident receives more than 30 pounds of junk mail per year. That's a lot of waste! Sign up for a mail preference service for $1 every five years to reduce the junk mail you receive from advertisers.
- Sign up for e-billing with your bank, credit card company, internet provider and utility companies. Avoid getting paperless bills when possible, especially if you can use online banking to pay for these bills.
12
Use plug-in appliances. Appliances that operate on batteries will likely have a short life span, and disposable batteries will be discarded after one use, adding more waste to your local landfill.
- Rechargeable batteries, while more durable, are the largest source of cadmium in municipal waste streams. So stick to plug-in appliances, rather than appliances that use disposable batteries or rechargeable batteries, whenever possible.

1
Start an office paper reduction campaign. Talk to your boss about reducing paper. Or, if you are a manager, figure out ways to reduce the amount of paper used in the office.
- Encourage the use of both sides of paper when printing and copying. Many office printers have a default setting to print on both sides of the paper, unless otherwise specified.
- Encourage everyone in the office to adjust the fonts, margins and spacing of their documents to fit more text on a standard sheet of paper. If someone needs to copy documents, tell the person to reduce the size of the documents so they require less sheets of paper.
- Keep a bin for waste paper and encourage people in the office to use the waste paper as scrap paper. Attach several sheets and cut them into post it sized pieces. Then, staple them together and hand them out to everyone in the office to use as "recycled" post it notes.
- Switch to chlorine-free paper products and use soy or other agri-based inks for printers and fax machines.
2
Promote the use of e-mail and electronic storage programs. Take advantage of the accessibility and efficiency of electronic communication and electronic data storage to reduce the paper use in the office on a day-to-day basis.
- Programs such as Google Docs and AtTask are great ways to share files and information online, without having to print documents or use fax machines to send documents to people.
- You may also want to move the company's files to an electronic data storage system to reduce the amount of paper in filing cabinets and in storage rooms.
3

Set up a bulletin board for office announcements. This will prevent the distribution of individual copies of announcements to everyone in the office and cut down on paper use.
4
Reduce the amount of unsolicited mail in the office. Many businesses receive mounds of unwanted mail, such as catalogs, advertisements and flyers. Unlike households, businesses can't simply register for a mail preference service to reduce junk mail. Instead, businesses must contact the mailers directly and ask to be removed from their mailing lists.
- You can email or call the mailers and request to be removed for their mailing list. Be polite when you contact them. Most mailers will comply with your request.
- You should also forward any mail for employees who no longer work for the company and inform those individuals that they need to update their contact information.
- If your office receives multiple mailings for the same person, ask the person to contact the mailer and update his/her information.
- Your office should also keep mail lists up-to-date so no duplicates are sent to the office.
5
Purchase or lease computer monitors with energy saving features. Many newer machines have built in energy-saving features that can really reduce the amount of electricity used by your office. So if you've been using the same Dell computer for 10 years, it might be a good idea to upgrade to a new version that has energy saving features. Not only will this promote energy savings, it will also show up as savings on the company's electricity bill.
- Most computers have a sleep mode that comes on automatically after a period of inactivity. You should also make sure the power management features on your computer are turned on. The procedure to do this will depend on the operating system on your computer. Click here for specific details based on operating system: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=power_mgt.pr_power_mgt_users.
- Remind everyone in the office to turn off their computers, as well as copiers, lights and other electronic equipment when they're done for the day or when they are not using them.
6

Make sure the office has several recycling bins and they are emptied regularly. A busy office should have simple sort recycling bins, divided by material, so everyone can recycle properly. It's important to empty the bins once per week, at the same time as the garbage, to prevent the buildup of materials.^[7]
7
Stock the lunch room with reusable glasses, plates and cups. Order coffee cups with the company logo and stock the lunch room with metal utensils, reusable plates and reusable glasses. This will prevent the use of disposable cups, plates and utensils.
- The lunch room should also have a microwave, a refrigerator and a dish-washing area to encourage everyone to bring in their lunches and eat together, rather than go out for lunch and create more waste.
- The lunch room should also have a coffee machine and a kettle for hot water for tea to encourage employees to bring in their own coffee and tea bags, rather than head to Starbucks on their lunch break.
8
Set up a food-waste composting program. An organics compost in the lunch room is a great way to prevent compostable items, such as coffee grounds, fruit peels and paper napkins, from ending up in the garbage.^[8]
- Be aware of any guidelines the office must meet to establish and maintain an organics composting program. Contact your county environmental officer for more information.
9

Sell or donate used office furniture and equipment. Rather than get rid of old chairs and desks, look for charity organizations that take used furniture and equipment.
10
Carpool to the office, ride your bike or take public transit. Cut down on greenhouse gas emissions in the air by carpooling with co-workers and keeping one more car off the road. Or invest in a bike and cycle to work every day.^[9]
- Public transit is also a great way to limit your carbon footprint. Many city buses also run on eco-friendly fuel.

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To reduce waste, see if you can borrow or rent some of the things you need, like tools or equipment, rather than buying them. Additionally, shop for clothing and household items at second-hand stores instead of buying them new. When you do buy new things, try to buy products that are durable, like an electric razor that will last years rather than a disposable one that will last a week. Alternatively, buy in bulk so there's less packaging to throw away. To learn how to reduce waste at your office, keep reading!

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