Zero Waste

Power Point on Zero Waste to accompany presentation at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Missoula on Sunday, March 13, 2016 by Renee McGrath

1. Zero Waste
http://www.zerowastehome.com
/

2. Things I Was Already Doing

washing and reusing plastic bags

using cloth napkins, handkerchiefs, reusable sandwich bags,
grocery bags and lunchboxes

using reusable glass straws at home

using filtered tap (instead of bottled water)

taking plastic grocery bags to the library and packing materials
to my local shipping store for reuse

reusing paper (and business cards) for printing and notes

avoiding the use of paper plates, cups, and utensils

3. Things I Was Already Doing

shopping at thrift stores for clothes and household items

avoiding taking home unneeded “freebies” such as plastic cups and
pens from vendors promoting their products

making my own dishwasher and laundry detergent, hair conditioner,
lip balm, and deodorant

using sustainable menstrual supplies (sorry if that embarrasses you,
gentlemen)

recycling plastic, aluminum, tin, paper, cardboard, and glass

4. According to the US Environmental
Protection Agency
Americans generated about 251 million tons of
trash in 2012.
We recycled and composted almost 87 million tons
of this material, equivalent to a 34.5 percent
recycling rate.
65.5 percent of our garbage is NOT being recycled

5. Disturbing Facts about Plastic

Over the last ten years we have produced more plastic than
during the whole of the last century.

50 percent of the plastic we use, we use just once and throw
away.

Enough plastic is thrown away each year to circle the earth four
times.

We currently recycle only five percent of the plastics we
produce.

The average American throws away approximately 185 pounds
of plastic per year.

The production of plastic uses around eight percent of the
world's oil population.

6. Problems with Plastic Recycling

Indicate the financial advantages for the customer

Compare quality and price with those of the competition

7. The 5 Rs

8. Refuse

Single-use plastics (bags, bottles, cups,
lids, straws and utensils)

Freebies (hotel toiletries, party favors, food
samples, swag)

Disposable items

Packaging (DIY, buy in bulk)

Junk Mail

9. How to Cut Back on Junk Mail

CatalogChoice.org (to be removed from catalog mailing lists)

First-class mail (Refused – Return to Sender – Remove from
Mailing List)

Mail addressed to previous resident (USPS change of address
form)

Standard/third-class presorted mail (Can return to sender if
mailing says “return service requested,” “forwarding service
requested,” or “address service requested)

Bulk mail (and standard with no forwarding) – contact directly
to be removed from mailing list

10. Reduce

Choose quality over quantity
(repairable vs. disposable)

Avoid unnecessary purchases

Decrease your exposure to
advertising

11. Buy It Once

12. Reuse

Chose reusables over disposables - bags, cups, jars, bottles, rags,
towels, napkins, hankies, batteries, etc.

Collaborative consumption - borrowing, sharing, libraries, tool
libraries, seed swaps, bartering, etc.

Repair instead of replace – clothes, shoes, etc.

Rethink – consider using items you already have on hand for
different purposes rather than buying new things

Return – hangers to the dry cleaners, packing material to
shipping centers, egg cartons to individual egg sellers, grocery
bags to the library, etc.

13. Recycle

Plastic

Paper (office paper, newspaper,
magazines)

Cardboard

Phone Books

Aluminum

Tin

14. Not Glass...

15. Terracycle

Drink and baby food pouches

Potato chip and other snack bags

Snack bar wrappers

Cereal bags (that come inside cereal boxes)

Toiletry containers (toothpaste, deodorant, mouthwash, etc.)

Pens, pencils, and markers

Scotch tape dispensers

Hair care and cosmetic packaging

Electronics

16. Rot

17. Zero Waste Missoula?

18. What I'm Doing Now

Homemade toothpaste

Reusable produce/bulk item bags (and washable crayons)

Wide mouth mason jars

Silicone baking pan and muffin tin liners and container covers

Recycled unbleached toilet paper

Wooden push pins

Electronic greeting cards

Composting (again)

Terracycle

19. Where I've Got Room for Improvement

Remembering to bring reusable drinking vessels

Bringing my own container for leftovers when eating out

Paper towels (my family can't seem to live without them)

Costco (good deals, but so much packaging)

Making the most of compost

Growing and preserving food

Out of print books

Gifts (especially gifts for kids)

Transportation and shipping

20. What Do You Do to Reduce Waste?