Healthy Homes of Rochester

Recycling is great, but precycling is even better! Pre-thinking our purchases is a great way to get one-step-ahead on the road to reducing our impact on the environment.

The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) estimates that in 1996, New Yorkers disposed of more than 17.7 million tons of solid waste? And the DEC warns that it is becoming more expensive to dispose of our wastes. Recycling helps, but it is only part of the solution. Consider the amount of energy that is used to transport the materials, melt them down and then re-manufacture items.

The idea behind precycling is trying to avoid the amount of material that winds up in landfills and the recycling bin to begin with.

Some of the common steps we are all taking, like re-using cloth grocery bags instead of paper or plastic, has certainly had an impact. For every bag that’s used just twice, the number of bags used per year is cut in half. That amounts to half the trash right?

Same goes for packaging and reusing other products. Choosing consciousness over convenience is always the way to go when it comes to our environment.

My favorite precycling practices include:

Using cloth napkins instead of paper ones and using microfiber cleaning towels instead of paper ones. BONUS: I never run out!

Purchasing items like hand soap in bulk and using refillable soap containers.

Buying concentrated laundry detergent in bulk (and using less then recommended).

When I need to make a new purchase, I look for “long-life” items like batteries and light bulbs.

What about you? I’d love to hear your thoughts and tips on precycling. Give me a call on Property Source Radio, 585-222-6397 Saturday from 9-10am.

Thanks for reading,

-The Fixie Chick

If you decide to buy a digital TV and no longer want your old analog TV, look for opportunities to recycle it. Recycling TVs recovers valuable materials from the circuit boards, metal wiring, leaded glass, and plastics. Call your local household hazardous waste collection and recycling program to find out whether they will be sponsoring an upcoming event to recycle TVs and other electronics. To find a local recycling program, check out the following sites:
Earth 911: 
Earth 911 has a zip-code based search engine that enables you to look for recycling options in your community for various products. Earth 911 has taken environmental hotlines, web sites and other information sources nationwide, and consolidated them into one network.
My Green Electronics
 Provided by the Consumer Electronics Association, this site is a resource for consumers wishing to purchase green products and/or searching for local opportunities to recycle or donate used electronics.
Sony and Waste Management 
Sony, an EPA Plug-In To eCycling Partner, has teamed up with Waste Management, Inc. to offer their customers the opportunity to recycle their used Sony electronics for free. Other brands of TVs can also be recycled at selected Waste Management locations for a fee. To find a drop-off location, call 877-439-2795.
National Recycling Coalition
 With an easy to navigate hyperlinked map, this page provides links to state recycling resources. Many local communities have special collection/recycling days that are highlighted on their Web sites.
Source: EPA