We can learn more about how to properly dispose of household hazardous waste, electronic waste, compost and recycling. We have to do our part by diverting as much garbage as possible from the landfill, and we're responsible to safely dispose of the "stuff" we purchase when we are finished with it. Many common household products contain dangerous chemicals or heavy metals and should not be mixed in with the regular trash. There are free programs in the Waterloo Region to safely dispose of these items. By educating yourself about the available programs and making use of them, we can make the Waterloo Region land fill last for 75 years, instead of the estimated 35.

While purchasing goods is important for many reasons, we sometimes buy too many things that we don't really need. Buying less is an important way to reduce our resource demands and it can be done by really thinking about what we are buying. To start making more conscious choices, consider if you need the product, and then look for a better way to purchase it - buying it used or renting it for example. Looking for items with less packaging is a good way to reduce waste as well. Buying in bulk is a can avoid excess packaging. Try to make changes to your spending habits so that you can save money and reduce you waste output to our landfills and recycling facilities.

It's inevitable that people are going to consume products but it doesn't mean that we can't make better choices as to what we consume. Looking for organic items is beneficial to the environment because it ensures that the earth and the workers producing the products were not in contact with certain harmful chemicals. If we search for locally made items we are supporting local businesses and products that required much less fossil fuels being burned in order to transport them to retailers. We have the power to consume responsibly and it's important to we make use of this power through thinking before we purchase products and by letting retailers know that it's important to us.