Waste Reduction Week

Avoid single-use items: Are there reusable alternatives for the single-use items most common in your home? Which alternatives could you reasonably use given your lifestyle? Remember to Start with one and then grow the effort. Buying things with good intention is still buying, so only take on what you can do. Also, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. If you can use the reusable option most of the time, that’s still great.  

Examples:  

• Use cloth napkins instead of paper.  
• Ask people to bring their own silverware and plates to the next game night instead of providing disposables. 
• Swap plastic sandwich bags for silicone or cloth bags. 

Share: Is this something you’ll use regularly? If not, does a friend have a version you could borrow? 

Quality over quantity: If you have the ability and option, buy a version that will hold up over time and/or that you can repair.  

Direct reuse: Take an item and use it again for a similar purpose. There’s no modification to the item required. For example, use the spaghetti sauce jar to store leftovers.  

Repurpose: Get a little creative. Take an item and use it again for a different purpose.  

You still don’t (in many cases) have to modify the item. For example, use the spaghetti sauce jar as a cup for your iced tea or use an old plate as a drip tray for your plant. 

Buy used: Reuse something that was once someone else’s. Can you find what you need at a thrift or vintage store?  

Repair: Fix an item and then use it again. Maybe your favorite sweater got a snag in it. Or, maybe speaker has a loose wire. Those things can be fixed. Sometimes repair may require you to buy a part, but that’s better than a whole new item. Don’t forget tool libraries and other resources that might have the tools you need to make a repair! 

Remake: Remaking something is similar to repurposing – but with significant modification to the item. Maybe your kids have outgrown a bunch of their team/activity shirts and you remake it into a blanket.  

Recycling means breaking down items and processing that material into something new. Sometimes the recycled material is mixed with new to make the final product. Recycling uses a lot of resources (e.g., water, energy.) It also doesn't happen as often as we would like. Nationally, plastics turned into something new has fallen to a low of 5%. Plastics are difficult to recycle because there are so many different kinds and they don't melt down together. They also degrade much faster than other materials. Recycling effectively relies on many factors, including economic markets. All to say, it's complicated! These reasons are why it comes last in "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle."

One way to help Lexington recycle better is by Recycling Right, and not mixing trash into our recycling stream.

In Lexington, the mixed recycling is picked up, sorted at the Recycle Center, smashed together in bales and then shipped off to processes who can break down the material and turn it into something new. A recycle symbol does not mean an item is recyclable. (We find that frustrating too!) For more information on recycling in Lexington – and most of Central Kentucky – check out the recycling page.  

Incineration or waste-to-energy: Lexington does not do this. This is burning trash for energy. Material bound for incineration is sometimes collected alongside recyclables even though its fate is different. The materials we collect in mixed recycling carts and mixed recycling dumpsters are truly recycled, not incinerated.  

Mulching: In Lexington, yard waste collected curbside is turned into mulch. It is processed on a large pad in windrows. Food cannot go in with yard waste because it won’t properly break down in our windrows. The yard waste breaks down to mulch – not the fine, soil-like additive that is compost.  

Composting: The process of composting involves breaking down organic material – like food and yard waste – into a soil additive. Compost improves soil structure and moisture retention. It also adds nutrients.  Not all food can go into composters – only uncooked fruits and veggies. Lexington has a program to support those wishing to compost at home.