Reduce and Reuse
NEW! Stop receiving unwanted catalogs and phonebooks
More than 100 billion pieces of unsolicited mail are
received by Americans each year. To combat unwanted
mail,
Keep Kansas City Beautiful, an affiliate of Bridging
The Gap, has joined forces with communities across the
country to debut a zero-waste initiative that will allow
consumers to stop unwanted phone books, catalogs,
coupons and credit card solicitations at the source.
The free service, designed by Catalog Choice, will help the Kansas City area shed millions of pounds of waste and thousands of dollars in costs one mailbox at a time. Residents and businesses can sign up for the mail preference service beginning today at https://kkcb.catalogchoice.org/
Other ways to reduce and reuse
Reduce and Reuse are two important steps to take before you even get to the step of Recycle. Eliminate your creation of waste in the first place!
Buy Less: You can use your purchasing power to make a big difference in your trash by being more aware of how you shop. From buying products that have less packaging to giving gifts that are low- or no-waste. Try to stretch the usefulness of your possessions and think before you buy.
Reuse Resources: Just because an object isn’t useful to you any longer, it may not be ready for the trash. Consider giving your discarded clothes to a charity, or donate electronics that are still in working order to an organization that can’t afford to buy new equipment. Try the following online resources, too:
Choose Reusable: Here is a list of simple everyday items to reuse:
- Refill a durable water bottle instead of buying disposable plastic bottles.
- Remember to take your reusable grocery bags to the grocery store and other places where you shop, too.
- Don’t dispose of those empty butter tubs and yogurt tubs. Wash them out and reuse them for Tupperware.
- Have washable kitchen towels available instead of disposable paper towels.
- Choose to use durable, washable tableware instead of disposable (Styrofoam, plastic, or paper) tableware.
Donate and/or purchase used building and remodeling construction materials:
Habitat ReStore accepts donations of new and used building materials from individuals, contractors and retailers. The materials are then made available to the public at a deeply discounted price. There are two locations in our region:
Habitat ReStore Kansas City, MO
Heartland Habitat ReStore, Kansas City, KS
PlanetReuse: PlanetReuse is the free-to-use website focused on architects, designers, contractors and material reclaimers to connect, find and source reused building materials.