So, did you get the chance to do a garbage inventory? If so, I hope that you learned a little bit more about the type of garbage your family is creating, and maybe you’re ready to make some changes in the amount of waste you are throwing away. (If not, I still highly encourage you to try it – it really is eye opening!)
Through my garbage inventory, I learned that we didn’t have a lot of paper waste, which I think is a really good thing. But, I know that paper waste is a problem for some people and it’s hard to know what to do about it, where to start and what the best alternatives are. Here are a few links to posts I’ve written about how we have eliminated paper waste around our home.
Eliminating Paper Waste
Going Paper Towel-less
Wrapping Gifts
One area that I want to improve in our household is the amount of junk mail we receive. I always recycle it, but if I could stop it from being sent in the first place, that would be even better. Less paper waste I am creating and less paper in general that I have to deal with on a day to day basis – it’s a double bonus!
One thing that I’m going to try to do is to keep any junk mail that we do receive and see if I can figure out how to get our names off their mailing list. A phone number, or hopefully website or e-mail address, I can contact and ask them to stop sending me junk. This will definitely take a little extra time and effort on my part, but I think in the long run of having less mail and paper to deal with, it will be worth it.
Another option would be to opt out of having direct mail sent to you. There is a website where you can contact the major credit bureaus and opt out of having credit offers sent to you. I don’t know anything about this site and how it actually works though, so I think I’m going to stick with directly contact companies that we receive junk mail from.
Update 5/26: I tried calling the number (888-567-8688) on the bottom of a direct mail credit card offer I received and it was the number for Opt Out Prescreen – the website I mentioned above. You can either give your information over the phone or fill out the form online and opt out of direct mail offers for 5 years, or permanently.
Cutting back on paper waste is a great first step to take toward decreasing your total household waste!
How have you eliminated paper waste around your home? Any type of paper that you struggle with giving up, or finding an alternative for?
—————————————————————————————————-
Thanks for visiting Live Renewed! If you’d like to read more about my journey to becoming Frugally Green, please subscribe to my blog by clicking here! You can also follow me on Twitter.
This is a post for May’s Change Challenge – Decrease Your Household Waste. You can catch up on all the Change Challenge posts here.
Are you brand new to being frugally green? Be sure to check out my Frugally Green Fundamentals.
This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesdays at We are That Family
I just stumbled across your, site….and wanted to say I love it! I love that God is a part of your focus for doing things. so encouraging! I have been thinking about going papertowel less for sometime now….just need to get the hubby on board!! what do you use to clean your mirrors with??
@Sarah – Welcome to Live Renewed! I'm so glad that you like it, I'd love to see more of you!
My hubs was not on board at first, but we just slowly cut back on paper towel use, and now he's totally supportive. One idea is to put them out of sight, not on the kitchen counter! Then you won't reach for them automatically.
I use a microfiber cloth that is specifically for mirrors and windows. I think I got it at Target? I either use it with plain water or with vinegar and water.