For example, buy refillable pens or pencils vs. throwaway pens or pencils. Recycle means if we have to buy a container or package we can't reuse, we buy containers that can be recycled instead of thrown away. This reuses natural resources and saves energy instead of filling landfills. And lastly, Respond means to write or call companies that put out products creating more trash than they need to produce. Over the last seven years, many products have reduced their packaging due to consumers calling or writing to the companies.
Consumers can make a difference.
Waste reduction has slowed down the volume of trash going to landfills and extended the lives of many of them. Learning how to be wiser shoppers is a good lesson for all of us to learn and one that will help in the future. To teach about an issue, you need to know the basic facts about it. Sheets were created by the Environmental Education Fellow Project to give teachers a quick background on waste management issues. They are written to give a basic understanding of the issue and do not include all information available on the topic.