Waste Management at Home, York PA

Living a zero-waste lifestyle may be a step too far and seem unachievable, but are you at least trying to reduce the amount of waste you are generating at home?

The society we live in and our busy lifestyles, tend to focus on the convenient and the disposable, but we are sharing some tips here that are easy to follow and will help shrink your carbon footprint. It is important to realize that even the efforts of a single person can make a difference.

The ultimate goal of a zero-waste lifestyle to eliminate all waste, including plastic, rubbish and packaging, may seem an impossible goal to achieve and many people are left wondering how this could even be possible. 

It is important to remember, however, that all changes begin with small steps. Any change to your lifestyle to embrace the goal of waste reduction in your life will make a difference.

We are all familiar with the three R’s of waste management – reduce, reuse, recycle – which have helped raise our awareness of the importance of curbing our waste. Bea Johnson in her book ‘Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying Your Life by Reducing Your Waste’ has included two new ‘R’s’ to assist us in our attempt to reach zero-waste, or as close as we can get to it. They are ‘Refuse’ and ‘Rot’. 

• Refuse

The first of these “R’s” is to refuse, as in ‘say no’. If you refuse stuff that you do not need you are already preventing these items from becoming instant waste.

Refusing items such as single-use plastic bags, disposable hot drink cups, plastic utensils, polystyrene containers for takeouts, and drinking straws, are great places to start. Refuse printed flyers but take photos of any information you need to refer to it at a later stage.

Carrying out these small steps will contribute to your new sustainable lifestyle.

• Reduce

Reducing the amount of waste we generate is not difficult if we start off by being aware of what we buy or acquire, and always ask ourselves if we really need that particular item. Below are some simple ways of reducing not only our energy footprint, but also our waste so that we can lead a sustainable lifestyle, and none of these require too much effort.

1. Reduce our household plastic and packaging waste when we buy refills of cleaning products and personal toiletries.
2. Reduce energy consumption by using streaming devices to watch movies and listen to music. This way uses less packaging and plastic than traditional methods, meaning you save both energy and waste from the packaging materials.
3. Reduce your energy usage in your home by investing in smart appliances that use advanced energy-efficient technology. Little Green Junk offers an appliance removal service where we remove your unwanted appliances and we dispose of them responsibly without endangering our environment. 
4. The global cosmetics industry generates more than 120bn units of plastic

packaging a year, most of which is non-recyclable. So any way you can reduce this will help with global pollution. Something as simple as switching from liquid soaps and gels in plastic bottles to soap bars will have a positive effect. 

• Reuse

You can start your reusing eco-steps by simply replacing the disposable coffee cups which your daily takeout coffee comes in, with a reusable coffee cup. Remember to take reusable bags when you buy your grocery supplies. Even larger items like doors, windows, and cabinets when you are building can be acquired from your local junkyard for reusing instead of buying new ones. Consider buying old antique furniture instead of new, to give your home instant character. 

1. An easy place to start in your home is to replace disposable items like paper serviettes, paper plates, and plastic straws with reusable, green alternatives.
2. Consider using cloth or reusable diapers for your baby. This is an eco-friendly alternative to disposable diapers which we all know cause an environmental problem in our landfills.
3. When the time comes to replace old furniture or appliances, explore the alternative of donating or selling your used stuff so it can be reused, rather than dumping them in a landfill. Little Green Junk offers furniture removal services to save you the hassle of hauling your old unwanted stuff away.
4. Little Green Junk York offers home and estate cleanout services if you need assistance in either sorting out your own household, or that of a relative. You can be assured that all your unwanted goods will be reused by someone who needs them if you donate to a charity or a thrift shop. 

• Recycle

Recycling is the “R” that we are all aware of and we try practicing it with varied success. Although it is the obvious way to deal with waste, the recycling programs during this COVID-19 epidemic have been disrupted due to the regulations that have been implemented relating to lockdown and social distancing.

Unfortunately, single use items are being encouraged at the expense of recycled items to curb the spread of the virus. As the regulations are relaxed or lifted, we all need to begin recycling in earnest again as recycling centers are opened up. We also need to explore other strategies in our industries that would lessen the demand for plastic, and rather use packaging that can be composted.

• Rot

Rot is another word for composting which changes waste into compost and is great for the environment. Use any kitchen scraps and your yard waste to start your own composting station.

A worm farm or vermiculture composting is the perfect solution in dealing with your kitchen waste. If you are environmentally conscious, vermicomposting is a must use to feed your home-grown vegetables and herb garden. Composting will greatly reduce the amount of garbage removal companies will be hauling away from your home.

These 5 R’s of waste management will hopefully make it easier for you to lead a sustainable lifestyle. A zero-waste objective in your home may seem almost impossible to reach, but by breaking it down into smaller steps will make it easier to achieve. You will be part of the solution of leaving a cleaner and greener world for future generations instead of being part of the problem. 

Little Green Junk York is there to help you achieve these goals. We will help you with your waste management, and we offer residential junk removal in York PA and surrounds. We are a licensed waste removal company and will dispose of your junk in a responsible manner, recycling where we can. We can collect your waste after hours, on weekends, and even offer a same day junk removal service.

We operate in the York PA, Lancaster, Dover, and Dillsburg areas. Call us on 717 467 0070.  We look forward to hearing from you.

Please contact us at inquiries@littlegreenjunk.com 

www.littlegreenjunk.com