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The Consumer's Handbook for Reducing Solid Waste
This booklet describes how people can help solve a growing problem...garbage!
Individual consumers can help alleviate America's mounting trash problem
by making environmentally aware decisions about everyday things like shopping
and caring for the lawn. Like the story that says cats have nine lives,
so do many of the items we use every day. Empty cans and jars can be reused
to store many items, such as nails or thumbtacks. The baking soda bought
to bake a cake also can be used to scrub kitchen counters. The container
that began its life as a plastic milk jug can be washed and reused to water
plants, create an arts and crafts project, or be transformed into a bird
feeder. Eventually, the milk jug can be recycled to create a new plastic
product. Reusing products is just one way to cut down on what we throw away.
This booklet outlines many practical steps to reduce the amount and toxicity
of garbage. These aren't the only steps that can be taken to reduce waste,
but they're a good start.
Two versions of the Consumer's Handbook are available:
Some of the documents
provided by EPA are Adobe Acrobat PDF (Portable Document Format)
files. For more information about PDFs, visit the About
PDF page.
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