America Recycles Day

November 15th is America Recycles Day, sponsored by the National Recycling Coalition. And while recycling is important and something that we should all do whenever possible, there is a reason it is third on the list of reduce, reuse, recycle. We might not go as far as Treehugger did and call recycling a fraud, but we would agree, it would be far better for the planet to make tomorrow zero waste day. And it is true, the companies behind the National Recycling Coalition might be considered a bit suspect, since they are the ones creating the items that require recycling. Is it better to recycle that plastic water bottle than to throw it in the garbage? Absolutely. Would it be better still not to buy the plastic water bottle in the first place and stick to reusable water bottles? Without a doubt.

But in this modern world, how can we focus on reduce and reuse? You've heard this from me before, but here I go, back on the soap box:

- Reusable bags, not just for groceries but for purchases of all kinds. Keep several in the trunk of your car or folded up in your purse.

- Buy in bulk. Simply put, if it's available in the bulk bins, buy it there. This includes things like coffee, tea, sugar, flour, salt, spices, grains, pastas, dried fruits, cereals, etc. And stay away from stores that put one banana on a styrofoam tray and wrap it with plastic. That's plain tacky.

- DO NOT buy things in plastic bottles. Bad for you (BPA is linked to estrogen disruption, breast cancer, early puberty and a host of other problems), bad for the environment. For water, use a refillable bottle. I like aluminum or ceramic. And for soda, well, sorry to say, soda should be avoided all together. It has no nutritional value and is a waste of calories, money and packaging. Plus the diet stuff is loaded with nasty chemicals. If you must get your fizz on, try one of the natural sodas that come in bottles, and be sure to return those bottles for the refund. Those do get reused.

- Stop going to Starbucks, Coffee Bean, Petes or Caribou Coffee every morning, and every afternoon at 3 pm (you know who you are!) and getting a paper to go cup with a plastic lid and a cardboard hand protector. First off, you just spent $4.60 for what is essentially coffee and milk. Do you really have that money to waste in this economy? Second, if you really can't manage to make coffee or tea at home, for the love of grounds, bring your own mug!

- I know it is convenient, but I promise you, you can practically make a whole lasagna for the price of the small piece of frozen lasagna on a plastic tray, wrapped in plastic, inside a cardboard box that you just bought. And you can freeze it in pieces and have a freezer full of meals (leave out the sausage for a vegetarian version). In fact, you can use the plastic containers that you have lying around to freeze all kinds of soups, casseroles and cooked meals that you make on the weekends instead of buying pre-packaged. It will taste so much better, be a lot more nutritious and with a lot less waste.

Recycling is for things that are unavoidable, like the cardboard inside a toilet paper roll. Reduce and reuse is for everything else.