2011: Time to get Wise.

  The new year is here and many are trying to stay true to new year resolutions they may have made. Some plan to quit smoking or some will try to lose weight and get fit. What ever is on your list, it involves making you a better person. Perhaps even the opportunity to start fresh and get things right this time around. It's always important to continue to improve yourself but while making a better you, why not make a better place in the process.
  So many people out there are trying to contribute solutions to being environmentally friendly. It's about time we add to our self improvement list something to help improve our world. Everyone is familiar with the three r's to being green, (Reduce, reuse, recycle). This may not be the final answer to saving the planet, but it sure is a great place to start. There's some inspiring people out there who are doing interesting things. Maybe they can motivate you to come up with some ideas of you own.

Reduce

  The average American generates about 4.5 pounds of trash per day, according to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). Most of it ends up in a landfill. To some this means nothing. Out of sight, out of mind. But to others, this is a serious problem and they are ready to take action. People like Adam and Amy Korst decided they would give it a shot and came up with a great idea to try to lower their impact on the environment by reducing the amount of trash they contribute.

  Adam and Amy came up with the green garbage project where they not only try to reduce but eliminate all trash created by them for one year. This sounds crazy because, what do we do with all our garbage if we can't throw it way? Did they burn it or bury it? No, the answer wasn't finding some fancy way of getting rid of trash. It involved a simple lifestyle change. Taking careful thought into what things they brought into their life. Asking simple questions like, is this item recyclable or reusable or will this end up in a landfill? When making purchases they had to consider the life of the item and also think about the packaging it came in. Even if the item itself was recyclable but the packaging wasn't they did not buy it. In the long run, they saved a lot of money from trying to make the right choices.

By the end of the year, they had collected a small box of trash which included things like some tissue and plastic gloves. Adam and Amy documented the whole project on a blog where you can read more about their journey at http://www.greengarbageproject.com/ .

Reuse

It seems like everyone is interested in limiting or eliminating how much garbage they are contributing to landfills. Even fashionistas are realizing they can save money and still be stylish while being eco friendly. There are meeting groups forming everywhere from N.Y.C. to California. These groups are called swaps. Usually there's a low fee of $5.00 to $20.00 to participate in a swap. It's festive and you get to mingle and meet other fashionistas with the same passion for fashion. Then you pick the pieces you like and you leave with something brand new for your closet. It's very simple. All that's required is you bring an item that is clean and has no stains and that has been well cared for and you can walk out with an item in the same condition.

To find information about clothing swaps in your area you can look on the Internet. To get you started, here are a couple of sites I found to be helpful:

http://www.clothesswap.meetup.com/
http://www.clothingswap.com/

Recycle

When we think green, one of the first things that come to mind is "recycle". If it doesn't have to go in a landfill, why send it there? Recycling is great if feasible, but if not,  just like with the clothes swapping is an option, why not swap everything else or just simply give it away for free. One mans garbage is another mans treasure. If you take a look around your home or office, you may find there are things you can throw away. But instead of going straight to the garbage, why not reach out to others in your community who may need what you have or may be able to find a new use for it?

Freecycle, freecycle, freecycle. Freecycle is everywhere or at least nearby. Need to get rid of a sofa, a washing machine, books? Log onto freecycle, post your listing and wait for replies. Or maybe, you need a dining room table, coupons for home depot... go to freecycle and check out what's available or sign up to receive email. Something you need may pop up. Simply go to http://www.freecycle.org/ and find out who's freecycling in your neighborhood.

For this new year, there are many options for reducing garbage you can add to your list of resolutions. Keep in mind, garbage is a huge problem our society has to deal with. For some, it's easier to leave it up to someone else to take care of this situation and just hope for the best. But once we realize we are  part of the problem, we can become apart of the solution.