Nat geo tips

-- Reduce, reuse, recycle. Reduce the amount you discard, reuse what you have and recycle as much as you can.

-- Buy fewer things. Buy only what you really need.

-- When you do need to buy something, buy it used. It will cost less and additional natural resources and energy won't be used to produce it.

-- Pay attention to packaging. By purchasing items that have less packaging, you'll avoid having extra trash to throw away or recycle. Look for items that come in packaging made from recycled materials; buying recycled materials helps close the loop in the reuse process.

-- Buy recycled items. Choose things that made from recycled materials, such as notepads and other office supplies made from recycled paper, or clothing made from recycled plastic bottles.

-- Buy items that can be recycled and be sure to recycle them.

-- Donate used items. Once you're ready to get rid of something, consider whether it still has some useful life left in it. If it does, donate it to charity or put it on CraigsList.org or Freecycle.org as a giveaway item.

-- Recycle it. You can recycle almost anything - from cans and bottles to clothes and computers. Don't have recycling in your area? Then start up a recycling program. Talk to your local government. If they don't support the idea, see if they can create a drop-off area where folks can recycle.

The benefits of cutting consumption and creating less trash include saving money, saving energy used to produce items and haul them to the dump, saving natural resources and reducing the production of greenhouse gases associated with producing new things and emissions associated with disposing of them.

Information, channel.nationalgeographic.com