Waste reduction is the idea of setting out to consume a smaller amount of natural resources or significantly lessening the amount of waste that will contribute to the landfill. A surprising amount of the material you consume can be diverted away from landfills.
Some of the alternatives to landfilling waste include recycling, composting, reusing certain items, and choosing to consume a smaller amount or a more environmentally friendly form of our usual products. If you recycled, reused and composted all the materials that fit into each of these particular categories your waste generation would be slim to none! This is a high level idea of the concept of 'zero waste'.
It all begins with one small step. Composting and smart shopping are two easy ways to begin your path to waste reduction.
When you buy products made from recycled materials, you close the loop and tell manufactures that you care about the environment and they should too. Every purchase is a vote. Will you vote for products made from recycled materials?
The natural process of decomposition of organic material into a soil amendment is known as composting. Composting is a good way to divert food from going to the landfill and you get a free high nutrient fertilizer for your yard!
Bokashi composting is taking the composting world by storm! With this unique composting method you can compost just about anything you can eat and have a usable product much faster. Have a leftover turkey from the holidays? Toss it in the bokashi! The end result of bokahi composting is often higher in nutrient levels than traditional composting methods due to the wider variety of foods used.
Mulch is used to protect precious topsoil and inhibit weed growth by covering the areas in landscapes where the soil is exposed. As the organic matter in the mulch decays, the released nutrients feed the plants and beneficial microbes in the soil.