Back to Basics: Recycling

I don’t know if this picture is as scary to you as it is to me.  This was taken last summer at the San Francisco transfer station.  Note: this is not the dump.  This is the transfer station meaning that this is where the trash is temporarily dumped before being transferred into even larger trucks to go to the landfill.  This picture represents just a fraction of the daily-weekly trash of one city.  That is indeed frightening.

The goal of zero-waste (which San Francisco is currently trying to reach by 2020) is intimidating.  How can I produce zero-waste when in fact I generate a lot of waste?  Each tissue, plastic bag, coffee cup, pizza box, old razor contributes to this massive surplus of trash that isn’t getting any smaller.

That is why it’s so important to use the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

• Reduce – Don’t use something in the first place: I try to never use paper napkins and paper towels any  more.  These are unnecessary if you just use a cloth napkin.  I keep one out, use it a few times, and then throw it in the wash pile.  Same goes for paper towels.  Instead, I keep out a couple dish towels that I use for all the same things.  If anything, cloth napkins and towels work better than their paper counterparts because they are more absorbent and durable.  And I never have to buy napkins again (note that if you do still use these, and have composting, they can go in your compost bin)!
• Reuse – Use something again: Wrapping paper is one of the most pointless and wasteful purchases.  It’s just getting ripped off anyway!  For my last birthday, my mom wrapped my presents in cool scarves.  That way, I had double the presents!  If you don’t have any spare scarves or extra fabric laying around, just use something else that you have easy access to: like yesterday’s newspapers or last month’s magazine.  Not only are you reducing the waste you create, you are reusing a product that normally goes into the trash (and then landfill!)  Note: newspapers (oddly) also make great cleaners – think mirrors and windows.
• Recycle – When something has no more use, make sure it goes in the recycling, NOT the trash: Ok, everything has it’s shelf life.  There comes a time when you’ve exhausted all the uses of a single product.  So please please make sure to recycle it.  I think we all know the things that can be recycled: paper, cardboard, glass, aluminum, plastic.  But other things such as batteries, plastic bags, and electronics can also be recycled.  For SF residents, check out where to recycle these things here.  For in or outside San Francisco, you can use the toolbar at the top of this web page.

Zero waste can be easy if you just think twice before throwing something in the trash can, what else could I use this for?  Or could this item be recycled or composted?

UPDATE: Check out the great site a friend just shared with me about how to recycle things you wouldn’t normally!