Words by Smiley Team
We place our trash cans on the sidewalk and watch as they're magically transported to a place we've never been before. And then, since we don't have to deal with our garbage every day, we act as if it doesn't exist.
But it's a concern – and quite a large one at that. More than two billion metric tons of waste is produced worldwide each year, according to the World Bank. This garbage is mostly disposed of in dumps, where it releases harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and thus contributes to global warming.
Adopting a zero-waste way of life can make a significant difference in reducing our ever-increasing waste stream. Low-waste lifestyles, unlike zero-waste lifestyles, focus on reducing trash in more practical ways, such as shopping with reusable grocery bags and switching to plastic-free shampoo bars instead of liquids.
To go low-waste is not as difficult as it appears at first glance – we've sourced four nonprofits supporting people across the country to do this.
Eco-cycle is a non-profit social enterprise that promotes and implements zero waste in the communities it serves. A zero waste strategy is used to help communities make a positive impact on the most pressing environmental and social issues of our time, including climate change, depletion of resources and the loss of biodiversity. You can type anytihng in its A-Z recycling guide and find out exactly how to recycle it and the closest places to you.
Find out more at ecocycle.org. Or, donate.
Catalog Choice is a program from the nonprofit Story of Stuff Project, and is proud to have assisted over two million users in reducing clutter, streamlining their lives, and diverting thousands of tons of paper waste. Anyone in the United States with a postal address can take advantage of their database of over 9,000 titles. Already, they have saved 500,000 trees fro becoming catalogs – and their main mission is to stop junk mail for good. But they need support to keep their lights on.
Find out more at action.storyofstuff.org. Or, donate to Catalog Choice directly.
[Read more about zero-waste initiatives]
By diverting recyclable materials from landfills, the Green Project's mission is to promote the culture of creative reuse in New Orleans, which it has done since 1994. As part of their mission, they have four main channels: salvage, paint, recycling and community workshops. The Green Project is always looking for people and organizations to partner with them by donating materials. If you’d like to be the one they’re looking to work with, check out donate materials to get started.
You can find out more at thegreenproject.org. Or, donate directly.
As a non-profit organization, Rising Sun Energy Center's mission is to empower individuals and communities to achieve both environmental and economic sustainability. Everyone should have equal access to economic opportunity, a healthy environment, and the opportunity to participate in social equity. For this, they use local solutions that help raise incomes and improve sustainability to achieve their goal of creating more sustainable communities. One amazing initiative they have is "climate careers", which empowers, trains, and employs young adults ages 15 to 22 to provide no-cost Green House Calls: energy efficiency and water conservation upgrades to homes in their communities.
Find out more at risingsunnopp.org. Or, donate directly to support their mission.
