Much of the waste generated by Los Angelenos comes from just living in this area. Supplies, food, and materials are shipped in from hundreds of miles. That requires a lot of packaging materials.

Much of the waste too comes from constructing new housing, shopping malls, and commercial sites. Demolition of older buildings (including those damaged by earthquakes) creates a significant amount of waste.

These steps can help Los Angeles County residents reduce the 3-4 pounds of residential trash that they generate each day.

• Bring your own shopping bags (such as the one above) when you go to the store.
• Buy products using less packaging. About 30% of the plastic and 50% of the paper produced in America is used for packaging.
• Buy products in bulk and larger sizes which helps reduce packaging.
• Use reusable cloth towels instead of disposal paper towels.
• Use rechargeable, alkaline batteries.
• Buy products in recyclable containers, not containers that are made of a mixture of paper and plastic, for example.
• Find other uses for containers and materials before you throw them away.
• Use reusable cotton or metal-screen coffee filters.
• Cut your lawn grass at no shorter than 2 or 3 inches and leave the clippings on the lawn, especially during dry months. Cuttings are mainly water and help to retain moisture and fertilize the lawn.
• Learn how to use fewer pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers on your lawn and garden. Homeowners use up to ten times more toxic chemicals per acre then farmers.

Stop Junk Mail

Americans recieve over 4 million tons of junk mail every year, and 44% of that is unopened or unread. If 100,000 families stopped their junk mail, we could save over 150,000 trees every year. To stop your junk mail write to: Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, 6 East 43rd St., New York, NY, 10017. Ask to be removed from junk mailing lists. This may or may not reduce your junk mail by up to 75% since compliance by the mail-order industry is voluntary. Recycle your junk mail through the LA City or LAUSD clean paper recycling program.

Project Home: Waste Not, Want Not. Copyright © 1996 Target Science