Visit Freecycle

Hey, remember when I wrote about that wonderful website called Throwplace? Well, I am happy to report that I have found a very similar site called Freecycle.

Here is the mission statement:

Our mission is to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community.

From what I understand, to engage in the process you join a local group. Freecycle seems to be active all over the United States, and also in many countries across the world. Each group is moderated by a local volunteer. When you join a group, you can get and donate items freely, saving our landfills from overflowing, saving your money, and maybe even helping someone else's life by donating some of your old "junk."

As they say, "One person's trash is another person's treasure."
Because everything is online, all the steps are so much more efficient and faster than the traditional yard sales and Goodwill drop-offs. I took a peek at the group in my city and saw that there were over 12,000 members! Woohoo! They had their own Yahoo page and in the past 7 days, there were over 380 messages.

If you have a lot of unwanted items (and I'm pretty sure we're all guilty of it), please consider visiting this wonderful site!

Avoid Individually-packaged Products

Individual packages are all the craze these days. Hello, 100-calorie packs, fruit snacks, oatmeal packets, mini-bags of pretzels, ice cream cups, ketchup, sugar, etc.? I've even seen cute little packets of peanut butter and saran-wrapped microwavable potatoes.

Of course, these little packages of joy are very convenient and portion-controlled. However, they do take a toll on the environment and on your wallet.

More plastic and other materials are needed to create the excess packaging. Because of this, more oil is used to create the plastic, and more fossil fuels/energy is used for the production. Also, ultimately more trash ends up in our landfills and sidewalks. These items also cost a lot more per unit. For example, a large bag of Cheetos is cheaper than a pack of several smaller bags.

In the end, I believe that portion-controlled packaging actually encourages an unhealthy lifestyle. Why, you ask? Well, most of these goods are processed and relatively nutrient-poor. However, because of the portion control, people believe that they are eating healthy.

Steer clear of these convenience foods! If you need portion control, buy a larger bag and divide it up yourself. You can reuse your own little plastic baggies and save some money. It's the lesser of two evils. However, the best thing for the environment would be to avoid most processed and packaged foods and eat naturally and locally.

This image is from ABC News.