Launch: Acquire reusable bags

The world uses approximately 5 trillion plastic bags per year. The vast majority of these head to landfills, where they will take up to 1,000 years to decompose. Plus, plastic is derived from petroleum, meaning you’re helping the fossil fuel companies that are driving our climate crisis succeed every time you use them. As we wait for the US to join other countries that have already banned plastic bags, the simplest thing you can do is bring your own reusable bags to stores. In some stores, you’ll even get a discount for each bag you bring. Using reusable bags simply makes sense; single use plastic bags do not. Image: Environmental Defence

Launch: Identify a secondhand or thrift store near you

Producing clothing and household goods from scratch requires a great deal of natural resources, namely energy and water. In fact, every year, the fashion industry uses approximately 93 billion cubic meters of water, accounting for 4% of the world’s freshwater use. Many of those garments simply end up in landfills. Secondhand and thrift stores offer a chance to give a second life to used clothing and other items in good shape, with no additional water, energy, or raw materials needed. Visit this directory to find a store near you.

Launch: Start a plastic bag and film collection

Regardless of whether you make every attempt to avoid plastic bags and bring your own bags to the store, you’re likely to encounter plastic films in your daily life. They show up in our packages, they provide the wrapping for our household goods like paper towels, and they are used as packaging for many of our food products. These flimsy plastics cannot be recycled in the regular recycling bin. Rather than send them to a landfill where they will sit for hundreds of years, you can recycle them by bringing them to eligible drop-off sites. Visit this map to find out which sites are near you. Image: Earth 911

Launch: Start composting

The reasons to compost are plentiful. The first and most obvious reason is to reduce food waste. An estimated 30-40% of food is wasted in the United States. Instead of sending your food waste to a landfill, you can compost it and turn it into a rich fertilizer for your own plants or to give away to other farmers and gardeners. The second biggest reason to compost is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions fueling the climate crisis. When food waste and other organic materials are sent to a landfill, they emit higher quantities of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, than when they are composted. Image: Heidi Rader, It Grows in Alaska

Launch: Identify a local organization that accepts donated goods

Taking a proactive approach to de-cluttering can have a number of positive impacts on your life and on the environment. For starters, you’re more likely to actually donate things than throw them away if you go through your household items on a regular basis. If you wait until the next time you move or the next time you run out of storage space, you’ll likely face more urgency and will end up throwing used items in the trash bin just to save time. Second, going through your items on an occasional basis allows you to inventory what you actually use and what you could give a second life by donating. Image: Moving.com

Launch: Download waste reduction apps like Too Good to Go

Apps like Too Good to Go connect you with food and other items that would otherwise go to waste. Too Good to Go is partnered with various restaurants, cafes, and grocery stores in most major cities and is simple to use. Each day, the app presents you with a variety of options from these food establishments. Some will describe what you are getting, like a bag of baked goods or leftover produce, while others will simply provide a surprise bag. In either case, the food is heavily discounted because of the fact that it would otherwise go to waste. Using these services is a great way to save money and take part in a zero-waste economy.