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Quick and Dirty Fact Sheet on Waste Reduction

As old landfills filled and new ones became increasingly hard to site and expensive to build, waste management officials looked for ways to reduce the waste stream and extend the lives of landfills. One solution to reduce the flow of trash was to promote waste reduction.

Waste reduction consists of two main actions - one, to reuse many of the items we throw away and two, to educate citizens on ways to reduce the amount of trash they create or produce before they produce it.

Consumers reuse many items or give them to others who can reuse them. Good examples are coffee cans reused to store nails, thread, and many other small items. Many people save baby food jars and other throwaways to use for crafts or hobbies. Some citizens donate usable but unwanted items to others or to organizations that share them with others who can use them. The Salvation Army and Goodwill are two examples of charitable organizations that depend on donations of usable items.

The second action requires smart shopping to reduce the amount of waste before it was produced. Enviroshopping or Precycling programs teach consumers to be better, wiser shoppers by encouraging them to consider the five R’s - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Reject and Respond - before they buy.

Reduce means thinking about how to reduce throwaway packaging. Buying in bulk whenever possible does away with extra packaging of several smaller purchases. Of course, we can’t always buy in bulk, but we should whenever possible. Buying fewer convenience items when we don’t need them reduces trash. For example, use a real plate in the microwave instead of throwaway paper plates. Buy your own cheese and crackers and packing them in reusable containers for lunch as opposed to prepackaged cheese and crackers.

Reuse means buying items packaged in containers we can reuse instead of throwing away. For example, buy refillable pens or pencils vs. throwaway pens or pencils.

Recycle means if we have to buy a container or package we can’t reuse, we buy containers that can be recycled instead of thrown away. This reuses natural resources and saves energy instead of filling landfills.

Reject means to consider "Do you really need this item?" "Can you buy it with less packaging?" "Can you buy a refill for a container instead of a new container each time?" Refuse to buy it if you don’t need it or it wastes resources.

And lastly, Respond means to write or call companies that put out products creating more trash than they need to produce. Over the last seven years, many products have reduced their packaging due to consumers calling or writing to the companies. Businesses want to sell products - if you are unhappy, they want to make you happy - so they make changes. Consumers can make a difference.

Waste reduction has slowed down the volume of trash going to landfills and extended the lives of many of them. Learning how to be wiser shoppers is a good lesson for all of us to learn and one that will help in the future.

To teach about an issue, you need to know the basic facts about it. Quick and Dirty Fact Sheets were created by the Environmental Education Fellow Project to give teachers a quick background on waste management issues. They are written to give a basic understanding of the issue and do not include all information available on the topic. For in depth study of one of these issues, we suggest you check out the many materials available at your local library or contact the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality at (804) 698-4442.