All Food Related
Reduce waste-by eating your leftovers, composting and recycling
Eat a mostly plant based diet, avoid red meat
Support local farmers and fisheries
Plant a garden, or a tree
Bring your own mug to coffee shop
Eliminate straws that aren’t reusable
Store food in glass containers
Consider ordering from Imperfect Foods or Misfits Market
Buy in bulk to reduce packaging, especially plastic
Bring reusable bags to the grocery
Pack lunches in reusable containers
Inside Your Home
Wash clothes in cold water
Recycle (Curbside #1,2,5 plastics, metal, glass)
Recycle flexible plastics- (plastic film around toilet paper,bread sacks,grocery bags, produce bags, Amazon plastic mailing envelopes and zip lock bags at Hennepin County Waste Management facilities)
Avoid wish cycling- which is recycling things that can’t be recycled right now, like black plastic trays (in Hennepin County)
Upgrade lightbulbs to LED
Turn home a/c thermostat up, heat down
Create a more energy efficient home ( Recommended hot water heater setting is 120 degrees)
Go low flow with your shower nozzles and shower fewer minutes
Wrap your old water heater in a “blanket”
Unplug “phantom” electricity items like cell phone chargers
Use a power strip for multiple electronics. Can turn them off with one switch.
Rediscover bars of soap (and now bars of shampoo and conditioner) Check out HiBAR products and their company.
Take quick showers
Replace insulation
Replace harsh chemical cleaning products with vinegar or baking soda
Beware of greenwashing. Companies that make environmental claims that are false to get consumers to buy their products. Check the Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides.
Outside Your Home
Drive an electric vehicle or hybrid
Carpool or use public transportation
Vote
Support solar and other renewables in your region
Make sure your investments are not in fossil fuels
Combine small errands into one big trip
Make more thoughtful online purchases, combine purchases
Dial back the climate control in your car
Be idle-free, many new cars already have this
Vacation closer to home
Reduce plastic use.
(Buy Bar shampoo/conditioner, laundry detergent sheets,
reusable bags/glass containers)
Seek out climate solutions at your workplace
Turn away from fast fashion
Know when your city’s recycling drop off day is
Sell old things on face book marketplace or Craig’s List
Buy used things.
Invest in solar panels
Reusable water bottle
Keep your devices longer
Adopt a storm drain
Seek climate solutions for your kids’ schools
Be a savvy consumer
Attend swap meets , fix it clinics (visit www.Hennepin.us/fixitclinic)
Car pool
Animal Humane Society can use your newspapers
for animal bedding
Buy only organic or natural ingredient personal care products
Find out what your city’s policies are on recycling
Give bamboo a try
Replace old large appliances with energy saving ones
like high efficiency heat pumps, Smart thermostats
Reduce flying
Dispose properly of your household hazardous waste
Buy battery operated tools for gardening and lawn
Composting
What it is- Composting is the natural process of recycling organic matter, such as food scraps, into a valuable fertilizer that can enrich soil and plants.
What to do- buy BPI certified compostable bags to collect your food scraps, tissues, napkins, toothpicks, dog hair, plant cuttings, bones, etc.
If your trash hauler doesn’t provide a composting service, you can take your organics to multiple sites around the city.
Suburbs or trash haulers that do it- all trash haulers or cities will be offering it soon if they don’t already. Plymouth and Hopkins pick up organics through their cities and charge you on your utility bill.
Why? Composting your food scraps greatly reduces the volume of materials that go to the landfill. When food does go to the landfill it gets trapped underground (so not aerated) and produces methane, a powerful air pollutant. When it’s made into compost, it is re-sold for gardens and enriches the soil.
Plastics
What is really recyclable? That’s a very confusing topic for a variety of reasons. One common problem is different municipalities recycle different things. Best case scenario is to find ways to use less.
What should I do if I’m not sure something is recyclable? First, check your city’s recycling guidelines. If the item isn’t listed, put it in your garbage can. That might sound wrong—shouldn’t it at least have a chance to be recycled?—but the truth is, it’ll end up in the landfill anyway if it doesn’t belong in your recycling bin, and it’ll cause problems on the way.
City and county websites-
edenprairie.org
hopkinsmn.com
minnetonkamn.org
plymouthmn.gov
hennepin.us (green disposal guide)