Waste Reduction Week
This week, October 17 -23, is Waste Reduction Week in Canada, a week dedicated to reducing, reusing and recycling! Check out these resources to help you find unique and creative ways we can all reduce our waste.
Your Plastic Footprint by Rachel Salt
A plastic footprint is the metric used to measure how much plastic your lifestyle contributes to our global trash pile, and by understanding the production and prevalence of plastic and measuring your own use, you can begin changing your plastic habits. Your Plastic Footprint sets out to do just that. Science writer Rachel Salt first walks you through the history and science of plastic production, the enormity of our plastic problem and the everyday items that are made of plastic, differentiating between lifetime use and single use. She then guides you through solutions to curbing your plastic dependency, focusing mainly on individual shifts that you can easily implement in your life. The book features fascinating photographs and explanatory infographics that will help you visualize everything from the process of converting fossil fuels into plastic to the impact of plastic straw usage over a year. About 8 million tons of plastic waste escapes into the oceans every year, and plastic litter can be found on virtually every coastline. Scientists have even found microplastics embedded in Arctic ice. This is a problem that simply isn’t going away, and we need massive shifts on both individual and systemic scales to mitigate the damage we have already done. Your Plastic Footprint is required reading for every conscious citizen looking to make a difference.
Zero Waste: Simple Life Hacks to Drastically Reduce Your Trash by Shia Su
Easy and Effective Strategies to Jumpstart a Sustainable, Waste-Free Lifestyle
We have a worldwide trash epidemic. The average American disposes of 4.4 pounds of garbage per day, and our landfills hold 254 million tons of waste.
What if there were a simple—and fun—way for you to make a difference? What if you could take charge of your own waste, reduce your carbon footprint, and make an individual impact on an already fragile environment?
A zero waste lifestyle is the answer—and Shia Su is living it. Every single piece of unrecyclable garbage Shia has produced in one year fits into a mason jar—and if it seems overwhelming, it isn’t! In Zero Waste, Shia demystifies and simplifies the zero waste lifestyle for the beginner, sharing practical advice, quick solutions, and tips and tricks that will make trash-free living fun and meaningful.
Learn how to:
- Build your own zero waste kit
- Prepare real food—the lazy way
- Make your own DIY household cleaners and toiletries
- Be zero waste even in the bathroom!
- And more!
Be part of the solution! Implement these small changes at your own pace and restructure your life to one of sustainable living for your community, your health, and the earth that sustains you.
Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying Your Life by Reducing Your Waste by Bea Johnson
Part inspirational story of Bea Johnson (the “Priestess of Waste-Free Living”) and how she transformed her family’s life for the better by reducing their waste to an astonishing one liter per year; part practical, step-by-step guide that gives readers tools and tips to diminish their footprint and simplify their lives.
In Zero Waste Home, Bea Johnson shares the story of how she simplified her life by reducing her waste. Today, Bea, her husband, Scott, and their two young sons produce just one quart of garbage a year, and their overall quality of life has changed for the better: they now have more time together, they’ve cut their annual spending by a remarkable 40 percent, and they are healthier than they’ve ever been.
This book shares essential how-to advice, secrets, and insights based on Bea’s experience. She demystifies the process of going Zero Waste with hundreds of easy tips for sustainable living that even the busiest people can integrate: from making your own mustard, to packing kids’ lunches without plastic, to canceling your junk mail, to enjoying the holidays without the guilt associated with overconsumption. Zero Waste Home is a stylish and relatable step-by-step guide that will give you the practical tools to help you improve your health, save money and time, and achieve a brighter future for your family—and the planet.
Upcycling: 20 Creative Projects Made from Reclaimed Materials by Max McMurdo
Ever thought about transforming that rusty old item in the garage into something awesome to impress your dinner guests, or fancied refurbishing the random old dining chair in the shed but don’t have the tools or know-how? Discover your inner design genius, find out where to find great scrap items and learn techniques on how to transform them into great designs with this stylish eco-friendly book by Dragon’s Den entrepreneur and TV presenter Max McMurdo. Step away from the chipboard and venture out of your comfort zone into a glorious world of doodles, sanding, waxing, stunning colours and the satisfaction of telling people, “I made that!” You don’t have to own expensive tools or have any previous experience. Some of the projects involve only a few simple steps and can be completed within an hour, whereas others may take the best part of a weekend and combine several different materials, techniques and tools. Whichever project you choose the most important thing is to have fun and remember design is all about experimenting and learning – and not about always getting it right!
Want to learn more? Visit LinkedIn Learning to see all of the free courses offered on Environmental sustainability, including reducing food waste.
Finally, why not watch a documentary on the environment and sustainability through Kanopy!
Also, be sure to stop by ecoCaledon’s Repair Café on October 22nd between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm at the Caledon East Community Complex in the Lion’s Den. The event helps to promote simple ways to extend the life of useful items and keep them from polluting our landfills. And there is no cost to participate! For more information about the Repair Café, please visit EcoCaledon’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EcoCaledonOrg
And while you are there, why not pop over to the Library’s Caledon East branch for our big book sale hosted by Friends of Caledon Public Library. What better way to reduce, reuse and recycle!
Learn more about Caledon Public Library’s recycling efforts here: https://caledon.library.on.ca/services/recycling/