Reduce, Reuse, And Recycle Your Family's Newspaper And Postal Mail Waste
Posted on: 29 January 2015
Disposing of your household paper waste is both expensive and bad for the earth. For these reasons, learning to manage your family's paper trash is very important.
Here are some simple ways that you can reduce, reuse, and recycle the two most common types of paper that will enter your home this year—newspaper and mail.
Newspaper - Reduce
You can cancel your printed paper subscription and opt to receive your copy of the publication digitally. This action will completely reduce your newspaper waste.
Newspaper - Reuse
If you would like to keep receiving your paper copy of the newspaper, then there are many different ways that you can reuse the paper after your family has read it, such as:
- donate to a local animal shelter
- use for pets in your own home
- shred and use in your compost pile
- make some papier-mache with your kids
Newspaper - Recycle
You can recycle newspapers at your local recycling center. Also, if your community's sanitation company provides curbside recycling, then you can place your unwanted newspapers into the bin for pick-up.
Mail - Reduce
You can greatly reduce the quantity of mail that you receive by:
- getting digital copies of all of your favorite magazines
- unsubscribe from mailing lists by opting out
- call catalog companies and request they stop sending you their publications
- change to digital options for your monthly bills
In addition to the above, you can move all of your mail to a post office box. With a new address, you will greatly reduce the amount of mail you receive. Most postal locations today offer secure trash bins where you can dispose of any junk mail that you receive.
Mail - Reuse
Many charities today send out coins, scratch pads, or cards in an attempt to solicit donations from you. You should open these pieces of mail, remove the free gift, and then call and ask that your address be removed from their mailing list. You can then either use the free items or donate them to a local charity.
You can also reuse any envelopes that come in your mail for mailing other things, and by using them for shopping lists.
Mail - Recycle
You cannot recycle junk mail that contains plastic cards or metal coins. However, once you have removed any of these items, then you can recycle the junk mail by shredding it. You can then take the shredded paper to your local recycling or waste management center (such as Custom Waste, Inc.).
Conclusion
You can use the tactics above to help your family greatly reduce the amount of paper waste that ends up in your town's landfill. This is good for your pocketbook and it is good for the earth as well. If you have any questions about recycling options in your town, you can contact your local sanitation company for assistance.
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