Remember the This guide is designed to help you 5Rs: make a difference in the environment REDUCE by changing your REUSE purchasing habits. RECYCLE REJECT REACT Developed By The Solid Waste Division Bergen County Utilities Authority P.O. Box 9, Foot of Mehrhof Road, Little Ferry, New Jersey 07643 For more information, call the Environmental Programs Hotline at 201-807-5825 or visit www.bcua.org Printed on recycled paper. Environmental Programs Hotline 201-807-5825 www.bcua.org EACH PERSON IN NJ GENERATES REMEMBER It’s easy to ABOUT 4.5 POUNDS OF GARBAGE A DAY. REDUCE waste. Reduce waste before it starts. S: Become an “environmental shopper:” THE 5R Borrow items you use only once in a while. Examples: specialized power PRECYCLE! REDUCE the amount of waste tools, ladders, slide projectors, partyware. produced. Each of us generates 3 to 5 Rental shops save you the burden of Precycling is the art of making waste plastics are recyclable. Choose them when you shop. pounds of garbage every single day. If storing and maintaining equipment. less wasteful. It is the step BEFORE recycling — the one in which we make a we send less trash to landfills and Renting an item will let you know if you BUY RECYCLED! Lack of demand conscious choice to purchase or use incinerators, we help protect the want one of your own and give you time for recycled paper products is one of the to find the best one. Tool rental shops products which will have a less harmful environment. biggest factors limiting the recycling of carry a wide variety of equipment, from effect on the environment. You can reduce paper. Buy paper products such as facial REUSE as much as possible. Avoid simple hand tools to complex, expensive your household garbage by 20% just by tissues and paper napkins/towels that learning to precycle. disposable products. Purchase products power tools. Other items listed for rent are made from recycled paper fibers. in the Yellow Pages: party furnishings, Purchase items made with recycled that can be used over and over again. SELECT THE PRODUCTS YOU BUY baby furniture, appliances, office CAREFULLY. Consider the environmental materials. Reuse grocery bags, plastic bags, coffee furniture, audiovisual equipment, impact of each item you purchase. Can it AVOID IMPULSE BUYING! Try tins, margarine containers and glass medical equipment, and more. jars. be repaired, reused, or recycled? using a shopping list. Products bought Regular maintenance and Become an “environmental shopper.” on impulse are often unnecessary. RECYCLE the recyclables! It is repair lengthen the useful life of BUY LARGE OR ECONOMY SIZE SHOP FOR DURABILITY. Long- products. Follow the manufacturers’ important to know what is recycled in packages of items you use regularly such wearing products are often better quality instructions. They include directions for your community. In order to make as peanut butter, breakfast cereal, laundry products, and they create less waste than cleaning, operating and routine recycling work, we have to promote soap, baking items, and shampoo. The disposables. Examples of long-wearing adjustments. Fix broken toys, small the recycling markets by buying larger sizes use less packaging and usually products are silverware, cloth diapers, appliances, etc., instead of replacing cost less to purchase per unit. long-life light bulbs, electric razors and products made from recyclable and them. If you’re unsure how to do your refillable lighters. recycled materials. own repairs, look for a repair manual in Over 30% of our household waste comes from the packaging of products we REJECT products with overpack- your library or bookstore, or check the Biodegradability and buy. LOOK FOR PRODUCTS WITH THE Yellow Pages for repair services. product labeling aging or nonrecyclable packaging. LEAST AMOUNT OF PACKAGING. If it isn’t Look for items with the least amount Use reusable items: Durable necessary for sanitary protection, or is “Biodegradable,” “ecosensitive,” and of packaging. Purchases act as “votes” cloth, mesh, leather tote bags for any only used to be eyecatching, buy the “environmentally friendly,” are all terms for products. Select products with kind of shopping, coffee mugs for any product with the least packaging. It will that make people feel good when time you’re away from home. recyclable packaging and packaging probably cost less, too! purchasing products with those words printed on the labels. Realistically, just made from recycled materials Drink boxes and gable-top cartons because a manufacturer includes such whenever possible. (milk and juice cartons) are difficult to words in the description of a particular REACT by calling and writing recycle. At the present time there are few product, it does not mean that the strong markets for these materials in our product necessarily fulfills the letters to store managers, vicinity. environmental claim. manufacturers, and legislators. Your opinions count! Call the toll Whenever possible, AVOID BIODEGRADABILITY: Scientists have free 800 numbers listed on some DISPOSABLE, ENVIRONMENTALLY found that waste which decomposes HARMFUL, AND SINGLE USE PRODUCTS. rapidly when exposed to natural elements products and voice your opinion Buy items with recyclable packaging. (sun, wind, rain), will take many years to about the product’s impact on the Paper bags, aluminum, cardboard boxes, decompose underground in a landfill. environment. Reacting makes more steel cans, glass bottles, and some Therefore, focusing on the term of an impact than the other 4Rs. 2 3 Reusing things saves more “biodegradable” takes away from the real issue — our need to reduce the volume of garbage we throw away. energy and resources than PRODUCT LABELING: The Federal Trade Commission has issued guidelines Made of It’s easy to REUSE waste. for the use of environmental marketing claims. The FTC believes that to RECYCLABLE materials. make a claim about the environmental attributes of a product or package, even recycling them! a reasonable basis of competent and reliable scientific evidence must be Grocery shoppers use nearly PLASTIC margarine and yogurt possessed. The objective of these guidelines is to assure the consumer that 40 million bags each year. Most are used containers are good for short-term storage the products displaying environmental claims meet certain standards, and once and recycled or thrown away. Reuse of leftovers. Plastic milk jugs work well for at the very least, that these products are not harmful to the environment. PLASTIC BAGS for household storage, recycling used motor oil. Made from PAPER BAGS for recycling newspaper RECYCLED materials. ALUMINUM pie tins can be washed Tips on plastic use and cardboard (better yet, bring your and reused. You can easily identify plastics by the codes on each container. Turn the container own durable reusable bag to the store). upside down and look for a triangle formed by three arrows with a number in the center MAGAZINES can be given to friends, GLASS JARS can be reused for and distinguishing letters under the triangle. The number represents the recyclability of office waiting rooms, hospitals, nursing storing foods like flour, nuts and dried the container, and the letters represent the abbreviation for the chemical name of the homes, etc. fruit, or for hardware such as nails and plastic. Wash and reuse plastic containers and bags whenever possible. Some products screws, as well as for other items like Reuse POLYSTYRENE (STYROFOAM) are only sold packaged in plastic. When purchasing these, try to select those plastics buttons and plastic dinnerware. PEANUTS the next time you send a fragile which are recycled in your town. package. Offer leftover packing material to Use WASHABLE FLATWARE, a local gift shop or mailing service. Plastic Codes: TABLEWARE AND GLASSES for parties instead of disposable POLYETHYLENE VINYL: Includes cooking oil Remove torn parts from products. Wash and GIFT WRAP and use larger leftovers TEREPHTHALATE: Includes soft 3 bottles and film packaging 1 reuse plastic drink bottles, salad dressing, around meat. for another package. PETE V dinnerware. peanut butter, popcorn, and Save used DISPOSABLE CUPS some dry cat food containers. LOW-DENSITY for paint touch-ups and other projects. POLYETHYLENE: Includes 4 2 HIGH DENSITY some grocery store POLYETHYLENE: Includes milk LDPE produce bags, bread bags HDPE jugs, trash bags, detergent and and food wrap. bleach bottles, aspirin bottles. RECYCLE! POLYPROPYLENE: Includes Contact your local recycling coordinator for an updated list of 5 yogurt containers, shampoo WHAT MAY BE RECYCLED IN YOUR TOWN; encourage him/her to expand bottles, straws, syrup bottles the town program. Remember, if your town does not recycle a PP and margarine tubs. particular packaging material, it becomes garbage! Look for RECHARGEABLE BATTERY (NICKEL-CADMIUM) DROP-OFF POLYSTYRENE: Often known locations at retail stores in Bergen County. 6 by the trademark name, Styrofoam, includes hot CLOTH DIAPERS are reusable and are essentially “recycled” by being used PS beverage cups, fast food 50 – 200 times. Disposable diapers are used only once, discarded and become part clamshell containers, meat of our solid waste problem. By using cloth diapers, you can reduce solid wastes trays and egg cartons. and keep our landfills free of health-threatening materials. 7 OLD BEDDING, DRAPERIES AND CLOTHES can be cut into pieces for rags OTHER: All other materials. or made into hooked rugs or decorative patchwork. Local animal shelters are Other always in need of blankets and sheets. And charitable organizations accept these materials for donation or resale. Remove nails and other hardware from used LUMBER, then use it to make birdhouses, mailboxes, or other carpentry projects. It can also be used as firewood, 4 5 if it’s unpainted and not pressure-treated. What else can you do? Some terms you should know. BIODEGRADABLE A substance that can be broken down by microorganisms into BROKEN CONCRETE Make an effort to AND BRICK make excellent simple, stable compounds such as carbon dioxide and water.