Moving toward a waste-free lifestyle
There are many ways we can reduce our impact on the environment we live in by reducing the waste we generate. Check out the Zero Waste Hierarchy pyramid to see what’s needed to start on your zero waste journey. You can start by recycling or composting items that don’t need to go in the trash. Then, start finding alternatives to the things you normally throw away or even recycle. Use cloth bags instead of plastic ones for your shopping, for example.
Another example is taking your own compostable or reusable containers to restaurants to use instead of their styrofoam or single-use plastic ones. Take it one step further and talk to the manager at your favorite restaurants. Ask them to substitute unsustainable containers for greener options. They have a lot to choose from these days.
There’s a lot you can do as an individual to reduce your household waste. There’s even more you can do when we work together. As a group, we can better influence our elected representatives or the manufacturing industry to make it easier to generate and use less waste.
The TTGM Zero Waste Working Group worked jointly with the Media Borough Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) to bring weekly curbside kitchen and yard waste pickups to Media. We have been learning what’s needed to effectively reduce our waste to zero! And we’re passing the information on to you through a series of blog posts on the Media Borough website. We are currently working to expand composting to other Delaware County municipalities.
The benefits are clear – less toxic pollution in our environment, cleaner air, rivers and oceans, less harm to the animals, fish, and plants that we share this earth with, less dependence on fossil fuels, better mitigation of climate change, support for a more sustainable, localized economy, leading to a cleaner, healthier future for all of us.
Contact us at info@ttgmpa.org to learn more.
