As old landfills filled and new ones became increasingly hard to site and expensive to build, waste management officials looked for ways to reduce the waste stream and extend the lives of landfills. One solution to reduce the flow of trash was to promote waste reduction. Waste reduction consists of two main actions - one, to reuse many of the items we throw away and two, to educate citizens on ways to reduce the amount of trash they create or produce before they produce it. Consumers reuse many items or give them to others who can reuse them. Good examples are coffee cans reused to store nails, thread, and many other small items.
Many people save baby food jars and other throwaways to use for crafts or hobbies.
Some citizens donate usable but unwanted items to others or to organizations that share them with others who can use them. The Salvation Army and Goodwill are two examples of charitable organizations that depend on donations of usable items. The second action requires smart shopping to reduce the amount of waste before it was produced. Reduce means thinking about how to reduce throwaway packaging. Buying in bulk whenever possible does away with extra packaging of several smaller purchases.