Although we focus on recycling and reusing items on KC Freecycle ™, reducing our consumption of stuff in the first place is the most effective means of helping the environment. That’s not to say that recycling and reusing aren’t important; rather, they shouldn’t necessarily be the only tools in our green toolkits.

Umbra Fisk breaks it down for her readers:

Cutting back on our consumption is central to the creation of anything close to a sustainable, closed-loop waste cycle. In the words of the U.S. EPA, “reduction actually prevents the generation of waste in the first place, so it is the most preferred method of waste management and goes a long way toward protecting the environment.” [...]

In fact, the EPA and Environment Canada agree that “reduce” is the most important of the Three R’s — even though recycle usually hogs the spotlight. Note to naysayers: that doesn’t mean recycling is unimportant. It means reduce, reuse, and recycle are all vital, because no matter how much we cut our consumption, we will still consume some things — and then have to figure out how to handle our waste. [...]

Sadly, in this world of Nifty mops and Zippy sandwich containers and things that are made to break, it’s hard to convince people to buy — and therefore throw away — less stuff. But according to the EPA, more than 6,000 communities have “pay as you throw” programs that charge residents for each unit of trash they toss. And some industries have made progress. Remember those silly big cardboard boxes that CDs used to come in? And it seems that two-liter plastic bottles are 25 percent lighter today than they were 30 years ago. Small steps, but we’ll take them.

So what can you do? Write to companies whose products you admire but whose packaging gives you shivers. Buy in bulk. Buy products with little or no packaging. Make thoughtful shopping lists, based on need, to avoid snatching things up spontaneously at the store. Shun anything that’s marketed as handy, disposable, or one-time use in favor of more permanent solutions. And above all, don’t get caught up in the Stuff Race. In this case, less is truly more.

There you have it.

The next time your ‘wanted’ goes unanswered, and you start contemplating whether you should buy that new hot tub or exercise doodad, ask yourself if it’s really something you need. Or…will you just end up listing it on KC Freecycle in six months?