Reuse

When you creatively reuse items you save money. Even more important, you conserve resources, reduce the need for garbage collection, and use less landfill space, all of which help protect the environment (and your budget).

Useful Tips 

  • Leave grass clippings on the lawn. Clippings return nutrients to the soil and avoid the work of bagging.
  • Composting grass and leaves eliminates yard waste and collection costs, and drastically reduces the need to purchase most fertilizers and planting supplements.
  • Use reclaimed materials (pallets) to construct compost bins.
  • Reuse plastic or paper grocery bags when shopping. Better yet, use cloth or mesh bags to hold your purchases.
  • Use cloth towels, napkins and rags instead of disposable paper products which cannot be recycled.
  • Make cleaning rags out of old clothing, sheets, and towels.
  • Purchase items in bulk or economy sizes to save on packaging. It also saves on the cost of goods since you pay for product, not packaging.
  • Avoid using disposable products such as cups, plates, cutlery, and napkins.
  • Reuse emptied boxes and containers. Use shredded paper or newspapers for packing material.
  • Reduce paper usage by making two-sided copies, using e-mail and voicemail instead of faxing, and routing memos through departments instead of sending separate memos to individuals.
  • Use refillable toner cartridges, ink jet cartridges, pens, mechanical pencils and tape dispensers.
  • Use rechargeable batteries whenever possible.