Innovative Waste Reduction Solutions for a Sustainable Future

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the average American produces nearly five pounds of waste every single day. The vast majority of us don’t truly realize how much trash, and other forms of waste, we produce as we move through our day. So, the statistics can be truly shocking. When that number is scaled up to a larger community, or even country level, the sheer amount of waste is incredible. 

Thinking of these types of statistics can put into perspective the need for Americans to find ways to cut down on the amount of waste they produce. It drives home a real need to find ways to reduce, reuse and recycle many of the products we would otherwise throw away. Fortunately, there are a lot of really great opportunities to do just that, without making major and significant changes to your day-to-day life!   

Incorporating Tech into Recycling

Of the three waste reduction strategies – reduce, reuse and recycle – recycling is probably the one with the most recognition amongst the general public. Although recycling can be a great method of keeping waste out of landfills and creating a more sustainable future, many experts recognize recycling in and of itself should probably be a last resort for products that would otherwise be thrown away. Part of the reason is because so many products are more difficult to recycle than advertised.  

New technologies are starting to help with some of the recycling challenges, however. For instance, AI-driven technology can help with sorting through waste and pulling out recyclable materials. Over time, this can help divert thousands of pounds of recyclable products from landfills by reducing human error and taking some of the difficult work out of sorting through recyclable waste products. 

Other new technologies are making it more realistic to recycle products that used to be impossible to send anywhere but a landfill. Technologies, such as chemical recycling, are being used on plastics to help break them back down into raw materials which can be used to produce the next round of products – some of which you might even find in your home. These efforts can stimulate the growth of a profitable market in recycling and reduce the amount of new raw materials having to be created. 

Upcycling into Something More

One step you should consider, before opting to recycle, is finding ways to reuse certain products so they never even have to be recycled in the first place. Doing so can greatly reduce the number of raw products needing to be produced. It can also limit the amount of waste being generated. Fortunately, there are thousands of small, easy ways to reuse, or upcycle, products around the house. 

One of the simplest ways to reuse is buying a nice water bottle that can be used over and over again, rather than buying plastic bottles which only end up in the recycle bin. Other options are to focus on repairing products when they break rather than buying new ones or donating old items to thrift stores, where they can be reused by someone else. 

Even small lifestyle changes can add up in waste reduction, especially when it comes to finding ways to reuse old items rather than throwing them away. Finding these little changes and implementing them can be a really fun and creative process based on how you will use the products when you give them a second life. Examples of things you can do around the home include:

• Reusing plastic food containers, such as cottage cheese or sour cream containers and peanut butter jars
• Donating old towels and blankets to your local animal shelter
• Repurposing pill bottles as storage containers for all sorts of different small items
• Using old socks or t-shirts as dust rags
• Incorporating old toothbrushes into cleaning utensils
• Repurposing glass bottles into lamps or planters
• Washing and reusing Ziploc bags (unless they’ve previously held raw meat)
• Using magazines and newspapers as wrapping paper
• Sewing and patching ripped clothing or turning old fabric items into new fashions

Adopting more Sustainable Practices 

If you’re truly looking to adopt sustainable practices into your life, one of the very first things to do before reusing products and recycling them is to reduce the amount of waste you’re producing. This doesn’t necessarily mean changing your entire life so you can avoid creating trash. Rather, it means taking regular, small steps towards producing less waste. 

Many of these steps don’t have to feel like a real heavy lift. For instance, another one of the biggest things you can do right now is to start using reusable grocery bags, instead of getting plastic bags every time you go to the grocery store. Even if you forget your reusable bag, choosing to use a paper bag instead can be a big deal. One bonus is a paper bag can be composted, which can improve the health of your soil and produce no trash at all. 

Having a garden or a compost pile are both great options for improving waste reduction. If those are out of the question, don’t be discouraged, there are other things you can do! One is to find ways to reduce the plastic you use in your life. This might mean choosing to buy products made from glass or stainless steel. You can opt for products that don’t contain any plastic packaging. You can match a switch to powdered laundry detergent, or a shampoo bar, so you don’t have to buy plastic jugs and bottles. 

Waste reduction and you

Innovative solutions for a more sustainable future can happen at all levels and across the entire reduction, reuse and recycling process. Big technologies are making recycling far more feasible and effective, while at-home efforts to reduce and reuse are powerful tools to limit the waste produced in the first place. Becoming more sustainable doesn’t have to mean a massive lifestyle change, the trick is to find these little things you can fit into your life and it will ultimately add up to a big difference!