Water filling stations of flavored water and regular water are located in the cafeteria of Notre Dame de Namur University to reduce the use of plastic water bottles on campus.

Global Inheritance’s program, TRASHed: Art of Recycling, is working to redefine the way people view recycling. The organization has different artists redesign recycle bins and hosts high visibility events to encourage recycling. Inspire people to recycle and be more environmentally responsible in your community by putting together an artful recycling program in your community.

 Contributed by: John Lawrence, Stanford CWP Program

The program will make sure that your methods are efficient and safe. The program covers many different types of waste, including beverage containers, used oil, solid waste, and old tires. The grant process is simple and straight forward. Apply now for help with managing the waste in your life.

 Contributed by: John Lawrence, Stanford CWP Program

With all the bigger pieces of paper that we conscientiously throw into recycling bins, we may feel that the tiny receipts that we get from shopping are no big deal.

Goodwill Industries of San Francisco San Mateo and Marin was founded over 80 years ago as one of the original recyclers. Its mission was to take used clothing and household goods from wealthier households in the City, and refurbish them for re-use or re-sale to poorer parts of the community. Important to the process, Goodwill would hire citizens from these very same communities to do the work of mending clothes and refurbishing, leading to the slogan "a hand up, not a hand out…"

The prints we make for our 'daily use' not only use paper, but also ink. Plastic printer cartridges, if not recycled, generate waste and fill our landfills. With millions upon millions of printers in the world, imagine the impact of reducing, if only by a little, the amount of ink used in our printing process.

How do the decisions made by grocers impact the overall sustainability of your food choices? What can we do to increase the sustainability of our day-to-day grocery shopping?

Aged or obsolete electronics should not be thrown away along with your normal garbage. Most electronics contain hazardous substances such as mercury or other heavy metals like lead or arsenic. These compounds, if introduced to municipal waste streams, can cause contamination of groundwater and soils. For more information on the hazards of electronic equipment, go to the EPA’s website.

Bottom Line: City governments make it easy for residents and businesses to stop the flow of junk mail to our mailboxes.

Junk Mail is a big problem. We all get it, and 9 times out of 10, that piece of junk mail goes right to the recycle bin. Every year about 42 billion pieces of unsolicited mail are sent to unwilling recipients in the US. This plethora of unwanted mail has immense costs. It robs our forests of over 100 million trees every year. Then it costs us $320 million annually nationwide to dispose of it all. According to San Francisco Department of the Environment’s calculations, it costs each American about 234 minutes a year to sort through the junk.

By now, most of us are probably familiar with the iconic 3 R’s of early environmental and waste prevention slogans: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. The 3 R’s have provided a simple, yet solid foundation on which consumers can base their purchasing and disposal-related decisions. However, when the focus of waste prevention shifts upstream to the world of design, manufacturing, and industry, the 3 R’s often fall short of achieving their mission.