Minimizing trash

This is the trash that a household of 4 produced in a week. Unfortunately, some items in this bag are un-recyclable. Those were the plastic windows of envelopes, plastic pasta bags, scotch tape, twist ties, bottle caps, beer caps, staples, dental floss containers, paper coated with plastic... if we had been able to find just a few items that came enclosed in paper, or a recyclable container instead of ''junk'' plastic, there would not have been almost any trash- at all! 

Most of the paper that comes in the mail can be recycled. There are yellow/green boxes all over over town now that allows for recycling of pretty much any kind of paper (except milk cartons). That takes care of a lot of junk mail and school stuff from the kids... also pasta boxes, cream cheese and butter paper boxes, soap boxes, flour and sugar bags, baking soda boxes... 

Food scraps, newspaper and brown paper can be composted... and your favorite pet, or your friend's favorite pet, can take care of a lot of the left over food as well....

There are many people out there seriously making an effort to minimize waste. Think about it: if it is not re-used or recycled, it goes to the landfill. And if it is plastic, it does not break down. Is this the legacy that we want to leave behind us? All it takes are a few decisions when shopping and storing. Do I really want all the vegetables that I buy wrapped in plastic? Is there another way to buy them? Can I store these left-overs in a glass container, or left-over pickle jar, instead of a ''ziploc'' bag? how about just a plate over a bowl of left-overs, instead of Saran-wrap (chockfull of BPA, by the way...) that cannot be re-cycled or even re-used? Simple solutions, all it takes is noticing. Yes, it may be overwhelming to notice all these things at first, but it is surprising to see how easily we can adapt to a new routine, just as we ''adapted'' to all the conveniences of the un-recyclable junk. That, by the way, includes junk food. Potato chips, chips, popcorn, pretzels, M&M's, Sneakers, Hershey's, Kisses... McDonalds, Burger King, Dunkin Donuts... stuff that makes people sick and little kids fat, and then goes to the landfill to trash our environment. Total, complete waste, isn't it? So... if you do decide ''not to trash''... you will have made the difficult, but incredible choice to live in a planet and environment that is healthier for everyone- including ourselves and  children.