Living Green One Step at a Time: Be Responsible When Disposing Trash

The easiest way to deal with reducing waste is not to bring it in in the first place.  There are some things that are hard to figure out how to recycle or where to take them, etc.  Before purchasing something, check the packaging to see if it can be recycled.  Think about whether you can recycle the item itself when you are finished with it.  Try to find things that are easy to recycle or reuse or resell.  Be responsible about recycling and disposing of waste properly.

Balloons are cheap and they are fun for kids, but if we are going to use them we should dispose of them properly.  A website, Balloons Blow is dedicated to helping people become more aware of problems with balloons.  They even have a photo gallery of how it effects wildlife and the environment.




This is also an article about a young whale that died and when they examined his stomach, they found the following:

"... inside the whale and removed a piece of plastic. Then, a length of rope, a golf ball, a plastic bag, a piece of cloth. Another piece of plastic, more cloth. Duct tape. A towel. Electrical tape.Fishing line. More rope. Surgical glove. Plastic funnel. More plastic bags. A huge piece of fabric – it was half a pair of sweatpants. Work around us stopped and everyone gathered, stunned. Over twenty plastic bags in all were removed from the whale’s stomach. John shook his head. In 20 years examining over 200 whales, he said he had never seen anything like this."





Here is another short video that is sobering to watch.  We may not realize or think about what happens to birds when our trash is disposed.

Try to think of something that you can do today to be more responsible about the waste you create.