Check your trash

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 613.

Travel light

· Fly less. Air travel has a massive carbon footprint—in fact, it's the mode of freight transport that has the most emissions. Consider greener transportation options like buses or trains, or better yet, travel less altogether and utilize technology like video-conferencing and e-mail.

The average Canadian produces about 2.2 kg of garbage each day—that's over 30 million tonnes of waste in total per year! And while it may disappear from your curb, the majority ends up buried in landfills, producing methane gas as the materials decompose. In fact, landfills produce approximately 25 per cent of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. Here's what you can do:

· Recycle. Did you know 95 per cent of Canadians can recycle plastic bottles thanks to a greater availability of recycling options? While items accepted in your blue box or blue bag program vary greatly from city to city, recycling is on the rise. Check your municipality website or recycling hotline for more details.

· Compost. Your garbage is about 40 per cent organic waste. Composting keeps that garbage out of a landfill, and provides nutrient-rich food for your plants.

· Vote with your dollar. Together, let's demand less waste. Tell your local stores you want products with minimal or recycled packaging. Kudos to companies like Wallmart, who score their suppliers on how recyclable and energy efficient their products are, or General Motors, who require suppliers to take back all packaging in which parts were delivered, and recycle almost all of their waste worldwide.

· Consume less. We have a problem with stuff. Since the industrial revolution began in the 1800s, the world has been on an unprecedented consumption binge, with global warming as the consequence.