Which of the following is an example of a waste reduction method?

You might already have a reusable water bottle, but do you use it all the time? You can put that reusable bottle to use, save money, and reduce waste. By taking your own water with you, you’ll also reduce your chances of purchasing more expensive beverages on-the-go. This will eliminate the one-time use containers they come in. While most cans and bottles can be recycled, they require a lot of energy to be produced, shipped to the bottling facility and then to the store for purchase.

Índice Show

2. Use reusable grocery bags, and not just for groceries
3. Purchase wisely and recycle
4. Compost it!
5. Avoid single-use food and drink containers and utensils
6. Buy secondhand items and donate used goods
7. Shop local farmers markets and buy in bulk to reduce packaging
8. Curb your use of paper: mail, receipts, magazines
Waste Minimization Suggestions
The EPA's WasteWise Program
The National Recycling Coalition Recommendations
Bibliography
other resources
ZERO EMISSIONS

2. Use reusable grocery bags, and not just for groceries

Just like a reusable water bottle, you may already have a reusable grocery bag, though it’s often forgotten at home. Try writing BAGS on the top of your grocery list to help you remember, or keep them in the back seat where they aren’t as easy to forget. Many grocery stores will provide a 5 cent per bag refund so you’ll save a few cents while reducing your usage of one-time-use plastic bags.

3. Purchase wisely and recycle

You can reduce the amount of waste you produce by purchasing products that come with less packaging and/or come in packaging that can be recycled. Not all plastics are recyclable in Delaware, so check labels before your buy. According to Delaware’s Division of Waste and Hazardous Substances website, “Containers labeled with a 1 or a 2 are almost always accepted because they are the highest value resins. Resins 4, 5 and 7 are now accepted in most programs in Delaware.” Plastics labeled with a 3/PVC and 6/PS are generally not recyclable in Delaware. Learn more about recycling programs in Delaware at http://www.recyclerightde.org

4. Compost it!

Did you know as much as 25% of the items in your trash could potentially be removed from the waste stream and composted in your back yard? Your fruit and vegetable scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds, grass clippings, and leaves can all be composted. While composting requires more effort than the previously mentioned lifestyle changes, it will provide you with a beneficial return on your investment of time and effort. Depending on the conditions, you may have compost in 3 to 12 months to use in your garden. You’ll save on fertilizers and if you grow your own vegetables, you’ll likely see improved yields. The organic matter will also act as a sponge to absorb more water, meaning you might not need to water your plants as much, saving you money and time.

5. Avoid single-use food and drink containers and utensils

Whenever possible, try to avoid single-use coffee cups, disposable utensils, straws and napkins. Some businesses will even give you a discount on your coffee for bringing your own mug. Keep a set of silverware at work along with a plate, bowl and cup that you can wash and reuse. Skip the plastic straw altogether or buy reusable metal ones instead. Remember, a lot of these items are made from plastic, had to be delivered by a truck, and will end up in a landfill once we have used them one time. Anything we can do to reduce our use of these products adds up to make a big impact.

6. Buy secondhand items and donate used goods

Before you go buy something new, consider buying it used which can also save you lots of money. That can mean buying secondhand clothes at Goodwill, used furniture and repurposed construction materials at Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore, or searching Craigslist for a deal on a bicycle. By purchasing secondhand items you’ll be supporting local charities in addition to saving items from ending up in the dump.

7. Shop local farmers markets and buy in bulk to reduce packaging

Shopping at your local farmers market is a win-win. First, you’ll be supporting local farmers while also getting fresher ingredients than you might find in the big-box grocery store. Food produced locally doesn’t have to be shipped as far or refrigerated in transit. Local farmers often rely on less packaging and many are happy to have you return last week’s berry basket or egg carton for use next week. You can also majorly reduce packaging waste by shopping at stores that sell food in bulk, but you’ll need to come prepared with your own containers.

8. Curb your use of paper: mail, receipts, magazines

In today’s digital world, most companies offer bills by email, and some even offer incentives to do so. More stores are offering e-receipts, too, which are great because they’re harder to lose if you need to make a return. Consider digital subscriptions for your favorite magazines that you can read on your tablet or computer. Digital subscriptions are often a little cheaper than the hard-copy version, as well.

There are numerous companies that allow you opt out of their marketing mailings; we like the options offered at www.ecocycle.org/junkmail. If you get an unwanted weekly packet of grocery store circulars in your mailbox, talk to your mail carrier and they will stop delivering it.

Waste Minimization is reduction in the quantity of hazardous wastes achieved through a conscientious application of innovative or alternative procedures. Simple adjustments to a process producing wastes (e.g. a teaching lab experiment, a vehicle cleaning operation, etc.) may be the only requirement to achieve some results. However, looking at the broader picture in the University environment, it is often difficult to recognize waste reductions due to the complex and changing growth patterns within the campus community. Reductions are often offset by increased staff and student growth and/or building construction.

Waste minimization often results in cost minimization. However, it is not uncommon to devise techniques to minimize costs without a corresponding reduction in waste quantities. For example, proper segregation of wastes will reduce disposal fees but only because these quantities are reassigned to more appropriate waste streams for cost effective disposal/treatment off site. While this is not technically waste minimization, it is still a beneficial process.

Waste Minimization Suggestions

Substitute less hazardous chemicals or ingredients for ones you are using now.

Green Alternatives Wizard - This is an MIT-developed tool made possible by an EPA People, Planet, and Prosperity grant.This database provides information on alternatives to hazardous chemicals or processes (i.e. substitute SYBR Safe, GelRed, GelGreen instead of Ethidium Bromide (a known mutagen).
Subsitute alcohol thermometers for mercury thermometers. Contact EH&S for information on the no cost exchange program.
Borrow a chemical from a colleague to conduct an investigative research trial. Contact EH&S to find out what other labs on campus might have the chemicals you need to borrow.
Test your ideas on the smallest scale practical to minimize disposal costs.
Keep your wastes segregated by compatibility and type; avoid cross contamination as much as possible.
Avoid mixing hazardous and non-hazardous wastes; avoid contaminating glassware.
Rotate chemical stock to keep chemicals from becoming outdated.
Order smallest container of material necessary for use.
Review experimental protocol to assure that chemical usage is minimized.
Take care when weighing and transferring chemicals in order to minimize spills and additional wastes generated during spill clean up.
Neutralize hazardous by-products as the final step of an experiment (Contact EH&S 459-4840 to write a benchtop neutralization procedure as required by regulations).
Practice good housekeeping.
Distill and reuse solvents.

Start your waste minimization thought process by following the proper campus hazardous waste procedures.

Keep an up-to-date chemical inventory in Chemicals.
Review your inventory periodically to remove unwanted or unusable chemical stocks.
Manage peroxide formers and dispose of them by their expiration date.
Only purchase gas cylinders from manufactures who will accept the return of the partially used or empty cylinders.
Ensure proper identification is on all chemical containers.
Attach a properly completed hazardous waste tag to each chemical waste container.
Submit the container for pickup through the WASTe Program.
Contact the Hazardous Waste Manager (459-3086) if you have any specific questions or need help with your project.

views updated May 23 2018

Waste reduction, also known as source reduction, is the practice of using less material and energy to minimize waste generation and preserve natural resources. Waste reduction is broader in scope than recycling and incorporates ways to prevent materials from ending up as waste before they reach the recycling stage. Waste reduction includes reusing products such as plastic and glass containers, purchasing more durable products, and using reusable products, such as dishrags instead of paper towels. Donating products, from office equipment to eyeglasses and clothing, reduces the amount of material manufactured overall. Purchasing products that replace hazardous materials with biodegradable ingredients reduces pollution as well as waste. In general, waste reduction offers several environmental benefits. Greater efficiency in the production and use of products means less energy consumption, resulting in less pollution. More natural resources are preserved. Products using less hazardous materials are used. Finally, less solid waste ends up in landfills.

Waste reduction also means economic savings. Fewer materials and less energy is used when waste-reduction practices are applied. Rather than using the traditional cradle-to-grave approach, a cradle-to-cradle system is adopted. In this cradle-to-cradle system, also called industrial ecology, products are not used for a finite length of time. Instead of disposing of materials, or the components of a product after a single use, products are passed on for further uses. This is considered a flow of materials. This can be applied within an organization, or between organizations that may be considered unrelated, on a cooperative basis. For example, a cotton manufacturer sends its unwanted scraps to an upholsterer, who uses the scraps as stuffing in chairs. When the life span of the chair is reached, the materials are returned to the manufacturer, who reuses the parts with endurance. The damaged upholstery, which was originally created using nonhazardous materials, is sold to a local farmer who uses it in composting. Money is also saved through reduced purchasing. Waste-disposal costs are decreased because fewer materials end up as waste.

Waste can be reduced by individuals, businesses, institutions such as hospitals or educational facilities, organizations, municipalities, or government agencies. There are several ways individuals can practice waste reduction: (1) Reusing products. This could mean reusing file folders rather than throwing them away after one use, or refilling water bottles; (2) Using products more efficiently. This could mean using both sides of paper in photocopying; and (3) Donating or exchanging products or materials that may seem useless, but that another party may find valuable. For example, the chair manufacturer mentioned above had no internal use for the scrap upholstery leftover after recycling the more durable parts of the used chairs. However, a cooperative agreement with a local farmer allowed the scraps to be used once again, benefiting the farmer by adding to his compost.

The EPA's WasteWise Program

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lists waste reduction and reuse as top priorities in its solid waste management hierarchy, followed by recycling, composting, waste-to-energy , and landfilling . Many governments and businesses have adopted the practice of waste reduction.

The EPA offers a free, comprehensive waste-reduction program to businesses, organizations, and municipalities. The program, called WasteWise, offers educational and technical assistance in developing, executing, and measuring waste-reduction activities. Through WasteWise, groups can design and maintain a waste-reduction program that is flexible to their specific needs. The nationwide program was started in 1994, and it had over eleven hundred participating partners in 2002.

Large corporations, universities, and cities across the country have seen significant benefits, both economically and environmentally, by using WasteWise.

The National Recycling Coalition Recommendations

The National Recycling Coalition lists several steps that purchasing departments of organizations can use in their waste-reduction strategies:

Reduce product use. Adopt the practice of printing on both sides of office paper.
Rent or lease products or equipment. This includes leasing, rather than purchasing, equipment such as photocopiers, which can become obsolete, leaving the organization with old, unnecessary, and sometimes hazardous equipment to discard.
Purchase remanufactured or rebuilt products, or products that can be refurbished.
Purchase more durable products. Higher-quality products typically have a longer life cycle.
Purchase products that use nonhazardous materials. Nonhazardous materials are safer for individuals and landfills.
Purchase returnable, reusable, or refillable products. For instance, transport containers can be reused.
Purchase products in bulk.
Purchase products that reuse packaging or use less packaging.
Share and reuse resources within the organization. Companies can implement an internal computer equipment and office supply exchange before purchasing new products.

The EPA reports that 232 million pounds of waste were generated in 2000. The amount of waste produced per person has grown over the last thirty-five years, from 2.7 to 4.6 pounds per day. In 1999, waste reduction saved over fifty million tons of municipal solid waste from being dumped into landfills.

see also Abatement; Composting; Green; Lifestyle; Recycling; Reuse; Technology, Pollution Prevention.

Bibliography

national recycling coalition. (1999). purchasing strategies to prevent waste and save money. alexandria, va: author.

other resources

u.s. environmental protection agency. "wastewise: preserving resources, preventing waste." available from http://www.epa.gov/wastewise.

Terra Lenihan

ZERO EMISSIONS

In natural ecosystems, what is waste for one species is food for another. The concept of zero emissions, first elucidated in the early 1990s by Gunter Pauli, applies this principle to business endeavors and is being tested in Burlington, Vermont. At a 3,200 square meter eco-industrial complex enclosing a number of greenhouses. Waste heat from an existing power plant, fueled by discarded Christmas trees, will warm the greenhouses and fire up the brew kettle for a micro-brewery. Pilot tests have shown that "wastes" from the brewing process can be efficiently transformed into nutritious growing medium for marketable mushrooms, salad greens and fish. What remains can be sold as cattle feed and soil amendment.

views updated May 18 2018

Waste reduction aims to reduce environmental pollution by minimizing the generation of waste. It is also often an economically viable option because it requires an efficient use of raw materials. Waste-reduction methods include modifying industrial processes to reduce the amount of waste residue, changing raw materials, or recycling or reusing waste sources.

It is more difficult to alter existing industrial processes than it is to incorporate waste-reduction technologies into new operations. Large-scale changes in production equipment are essential to achieving waste reduction. Proper handling of materials and fugitive emissions reduction, as well as plugging leaks and preventing spills, all help in waste reduction. Process equipment must be checked on a regular basis for corrosion, vibrations, and leaks. Increases in automation and the prevention of vapor losses also help reduce waste generation.

Changes in what an industry puts into a process can be used to reduce the amount of waste generated. One example is the substitution of raw materials such as water to clean a part instead of solvents. End-products can also be modified to help reduce waste. Another aspect of waste reduction is the control of fugitive emissions by placing a floating roof on open tanks, for example. Other waste-reduction options include the installation of condensers, automatic tank covers, and increasing tank heights. But these and other decisions on waste reduction very much depend on the size and structure of a company.

See also Industrial waste treatment;Recyclables; Reuse; Toxic use reduction legislation; Waste management; Waste stream

[James W. Patterson ]

RESOURCES

BOOKS

Robinson, W. D., ed. The Solid Waste Handbook. New York: Wiley, 1986.

Underwood, J. D., et al. Garbage: Practices, Problems, and Remedies. New York: INFORM, 1988.

OTHER

Waste Minimization: Environmental Quality With Economic Benefits. Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, 1987.

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