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Reduce
As recycling still requires the use of energy and resources, reducing waste at the source is the most effective means of minimizing resource consumption. Here are some helpful tips:
- You can buy juice or water in large recyclable bottles or cans and then divide it up into smaller portions in reusable, washable containers as you need it at home or to take with you. And if you want to take juice or water with you on your journeys, just take it along in your own reusable sports bottle.
- With regard to buying bottled water, first determine if you really even need to buy bottled (packaged) water. City water is usually just as healthy, much cheaper, and may even be safer than bottled water products.
- Don't bring a plastic bag for lunch, use a reusable lunch bag.
- Start a garden. Food that you grow yourself does not have to be "processed" or "packaged", and no fossil fuels are needed to get it to the store and then to your house.
- Start a compost to transform your household garbage (food wastes,, etc), into a rich earth-like material that can be added to a garden to help plants grow. Grass, leaves, paper, and some other types of food can naturally decay and turn into compost, and that compost can then be put to good use in your garden.
- Make all photocopies and printouts double sided and reduce margins widths (reducing paper consumption by half)
- Avoid wasted paper and mistakes by previewing documents carefully and knowing how to operate the photocopier. It may be useful to post a sign close to the copier with instructions on how to perform various tasks.
- Use a reusable fax cover page, or even better, send faxes from your computer.
- A reusable fax cover page can be easily made by laminating a sheet and using erasable makers.
- For memos and newsletters, circulate or post a single copy or use email.
- Staff: allow students to submit assignments electronically where possible
- Share newspapers, journal and magazine subscriptions by creating an ‘office library’.
- Reduce the amount of junk mail you receive at the office by asking the Canadian direct marketing association to remove your name from the mailing list
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