Do you "pre"cycle? Any tips?

[ml2620]

I know it's great to recycle, but I wonder where all of it goes and if it is really recycled.

I'd like to get to the point where I just have less waste period, recycle what I can but just generally have less plastic, less to recycle and less to throw away. Seems hard to do with all these glass containers, plastic cases and packaging, and cat food cans.

Do you base some of your purchasing decisions on how much waste it will create? (e.g. you use powered laundry detergent instead of the liquid because of the big plastic bottle, etc.)

Anyone have any good tips or starting points on precycling?

[madhen]

I do try to buy based on type of packaging (less is more and "is there some way I could re-purpose this"). I have been on a salad kick, so I buy the big family-sized plastic containers of mixed greens, and I divvy them up into smaller containers at home, then use the original containers as mini-greenhouses until they fall apart.

I buy in bulk a lot, which really cuts down on packaging garbage. I have plastic storage containers in my cupboard, and when they get low, I go buy what I need from the bulk bin, and refill my container.

I also try to use biodegradable packaging and bags, and I compost those. I have thought about getting cloth shopping bags, but I can fill up 8-9 bags on one shopping trip, so the bulk of the empty bags would be annoying. I do save my plastic bags for "plarn" (knitted plastic strip projects) and my paper bags for composting. Newspaper is used to line bird cages, and then composted, as well.

That's all I can think of, off-hand, although I am sure as others post, I'll either think "Oh, yeah, I do that too!!" or "Ooh, I'm going to try that!"

[Lisahas2cats]

I buy Smucker's natural peanut butter, mostly because it contains peanuts and salt only. But it has the beautiful added bonus of being in a glass jar with metal lid! I reuse them for lots of things, and when I accumulate too many I donate the extras to the thrift store to sell for .25 cents each, so they continue to be reused

Likewise, I buy kitty litter in the large plastic containers because we re-use them forever for various things.

[IndigoMom]

This has been on my mind a lot lately. So far, we've stopped purchasing shower gels and went back to bar soaps. We even purchase an organic soap we've found that's packaged in a tulle type bag...I save the bags, when I get enough I'm going to try to knot or crochet them into scrubbies.
Plus, I've decided to quit coloring my hair. It's so gray that when it grows out (which it does quickly - I know, shouldn't complain) it looks like I'm wearing a ghost wig. It just sorts floats above my head.

[Momto2Boyz]

One thing you can do is take your own containers to the grocery store for produce, butcher meat and deli items. I have done this for along time at our food co-op here (they don't provide containers, so you have to bring your own), and I finally wondered what they would think if I did it in the regular supermarket.

So over the winter, I started taking my own containers to the regular supermarket and no one has batted an eye. The deli girl made a comment one day, about what a great idea it was...but no one has made fun of me yet!~

Other than that, don't forget that recycling is not a bad thing. I hear so many people claiming that recycling is bad because it creates green house gases in having to transport and/or actually recyle the materials. However, if we are not recycling products, then many companies who use recycled materials, would have to go back to making non-renewables from scratch (such as plastics, glass and paper), causing more green house gases in their production, the loss of more trees, etc. So recycling isn't all bad.

If you are curious about your recycling program, call up the people who pick it up. Dh is a recycler in IL for Waste Management and they are trained to answer all your questions about where things go. But they also have a department directly responsible for talking to consumers about their services. This includes letting you know where all the recyclables go and what is done with the end products too! (Trust me, we have TONS of stuff made out of recyclables. Even some of DH's reflective uniform shirts are made from old plastic bottles...I thought that one was pretty cool)!

[geckoace]

ive never thought to take my own container to the deli.... that is genius!!
i do have reusable produce bags i got em at the dollar store they are mess bags with zippers. and in the summer we belogn to a csa so we have to bring our own containers anyway.

when we got our tax refund i decided to stock up on toiletries and it took me forever to find bulk shampoo and things that were not just 4 bottles shrink wrapped together, i wanted a big ol jug with a pump and eventually found that for bodywash.

also amazon has a bunch of toys now that come in minimal packaging which is a lifesaver around christmas when i literally had to unscrew toys from the cardboard boxes they came in after getting tool scissors to cut the plastic ties so i could take the toy out of its plastic bag..... anyway

[Shelli_wnj]

My husband used to work for a plant that recycled plastics. He said that before they could be recycled, a company had to buy them to be recycled into something. There were literally barrels of pellets (the first step in recycling) waiting to be purchased and turned into something. At least we know they are going that far! But realistically, a PP is right. If there were no pellets to be purchased, the companies would just buy new anyway! I agree that you should buy minimally packaged recyclable packaging. That way, there is less of it, but it is recyclable. I know my spelling is atrocious, but I'm tired. :-)

[frugalwarrior]

Yeah, Actually I was trying to explain to my mother why it was bad to put all her fruit in those plastic bags. Her logic is that she saves them to reuse. At 76 I don't like to argue with her about things so I let it go. One of the things I like about self checkout is no one puts things in too many bags. Every time I talk to a cashier I say no thanks to the bag. If I take it then I just have to recycle it. I love getting over 75% of our stuff at garage/estate sales because packaging is reduced. I try to gently educate others about this. I've kinda been off the retail grid for years now. I need to get back in the auction circuit too. We used to get a paper, something like auction times. Anyone know?

[Judi Dial]

I've been reusing the "zip lock" bags that come with cheese, trail mix, etc. I know they're food-grade plastic and usually stronger than regular zip bags, so why not?

Re buying shampoo, conditioner, or other such products in bulk: try your local beauty supply shop. You can buy CONCENTRATED shampoo by the gallon, add your own water. That's what salons do.

Re soap in bulk: buy melt your own and cut them up, that's what I do. I get mine from goplanetearth.com . Liquid soaps/bath gel can be made by dissolving bar soap and goplanetearth has unscented concentrates, I believe.

I never thought to bring my own containers to the deli either! I wonder if you could do this with the meat market? I hate all the styrofoam, spongy paper, etc and throwing it all away.

Also, if you do get those styrofoam trays, try covering them with newspaper bits and wheat paste (paper mache) then painting them. They can be handy!

Plastic grocery bags are frequently appreciated at the local used-book store or antique store. Ask if they want some, you might be pleasantly surprised!

Judi

[geckoace]

i just bookmarked that goplanetearth.com site thry had a lot of cool stuff.
Shelli-thats interesting i try to buy as many products from recycled stuff but i can always do better gotta create a demand

[elphie]

Lets see, there are so many things that we do that it is sometimes hard to think of them all. I'll try to stick to the things I haven't seen mentioned-

• • we use Greendimes to get ourselves removed from junk mailing lists
  • we use both sides of all paper and even keep used envelopes near the phone to jot down messages
  • we get our eggs from a friend and use the same egg carton until it can't be used, then we use pieces of it for crafts
  • we don't buy convience foods so we don't have packaging waste
  • I use old bread bags instead of plastic storage bags
  • I try to find ways to use things so I can avoid buying somthing that is packaged- for example we use the ends of bread to make bread crumbs and therefore aren't buy a new package everytime
  • we are learning to use our old clothes to jazz up thrift store and garage sale finds- an old blouse with a hole in it still has cool buttons that can be reused and new clothes are a drain on the earth's resources

I think frugality and green living go hand in hand- learning to reuse, repurpose, and make use of what you have saves resources in our wallets and on our planet.

[tigo]

I think about what will happen to the container after I use up the contents. For us the curbside recycling takes all plastic and cans but no glass. When I was stocking up on spaghetti sauce, I opted for the one in the can over the one in glass simply because I can toss the can in the recycle bin. We went back to bar soap too for the same reasons as above. I do buy certain things in glass for the container re-use plan (we dry our herbs and make our own seasoning mixes) and try to reduce regular waste as much as we can.

[Thevail]

So pre-cycling is deliberately buying things with less packaging, or buying things with an eye to whether the packaging can be re-used or re-cycled?

[geckoace]

yeah its basically thinking about the waste created with every thing you buy and trying to minimize it BEFORE it even becomes waste

[frugal.lass]

This is a very timely thread...the Toronto Star recently did a series on waste (particularly that created by packaging). Some of the people they consulted said that although most of the population has seized the idea of recycling, they had almost completely ignored the other two R's; reducing and reusing. Of course, this is encouraged by industry as they don't want us to reduce our consumption of goods!! I think most of us at FV, due to our frugal nature, do a pretty good job with all the three R's just because we are so conscious of how we spend money.