Use Less Stuff - Softcover

Lilienfeld, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0449001687 ISBN 13: 9780449001684

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 1998

Synopsis

Q: What do all of the previous civilizations that practiced recycling have in common?
A: They're extinct.

Let's face it. Recycling has its limits. But so does our Earth. As environmentalists Robert Lilienfeld and William Rathje explain, the answer to our twenty-first century garbage crisis is both simple and practical--use less stuff. This groundbreaking consumer guide suggests helpful money- and energy-saving tips for everyone who cares about how we live today and tomorrow. Learn to reduce and reuse with creative suggestions for all areas of your life, including:


At home: Turn down the heat before guests arrive for a party--the extra body heat will warm up the room
During the holidays: Save gift boxes to use the following year
At the store: Buy products that come in concentrated formats--like juice and detergent
At the office: Donate or sell old office equipment
At school: Post announcements on a school Web site
In the great outdoors: Bring magic markers to your picnic so guests can label their cups and plates

And many more!

Start a war on waste and help save the planet!

About this title

About the Author

Robert Lilienfeld is editor of The ULS (Use Less Stuff) Report, a highly respected and widely read newsletter aimed at spreading the benefits of conservation and waste prevention.  He is also president of the Cygnus Group, an Ann Arbor-based consulting firm working with progressive businesses in the area of sustainable development, and serves as an Advisory Board member for the University of Michigan's Corporate Environmental Management Program (CEMP).  He is interviewed regularly on environmental issues by a wide variety of national, regional, and local media outlets, and has his own monthly commentary on public radio.



As a professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona and the founder/director of the Garbage Project, Dr. William Rathje is known as the nation's "garbologist"--the man who taught Americans about their consumption habits by rummaging through their garbage.  Dr. Rathje co-authored the bestseller Rubbish! with Atlantic Monthly editor Cullen Murphy.  He is also a regular contributor to The ULS Report and a variety of other publications.

From the Inside Flap

ll of the previous civilizations that practiced recycling have in common?<br>A: They're extinct.<br><br>Let's face it. Recycling has its limits. But so does our Earth. As environmentalists Robert Lilienfeld and William Rathje explain, the answer to our twenty-first century garbage crisis is both simple and practical--use less stuff. This groundbreaking consumer guide suggests helpful money- and energy-saving tips for everyone who cares about how we live today and tomorrow. Learn to reduce and reuse with creative suggestions for all areas of your life, including:<br><br><br>At home: Turn down the heat before guests arrive for a party--the extra body heat will warm up the room<br>During the holidays: Save gift boxes to use the following year<br>At the store: Buy products that come in concentrated formats--like juice and detergent<br>At the office: Donate or sell old office equipment <br>At school: Post announcements on a school Web site <br>In the great outdoors: Bring m

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Excerpt title: THE HOLIDAYS

Christ climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year
and ran away
to where
no fat handshaking stranger
in a red flannel suit
and
a fake white beard
went around...
bearing sacks of Humble Gifts
from Saks Fifth Avenue...

--Lawrence Ferlinghetti, "Christ Climbed Down"

Every year, between Thanksgiving and New Year's, the amount of trash we
create increases by roughly 25 percent beyond what we normally discard
during the rest of the year. This translates to an extra 5 million tons,
or 10 billion pounds, of waste caused by our holiday eating, drinking, and
gift giving habits. Don't get us wrong--we're very much in favor of warm
and wonderful holidays. But we're also in favor of finding a few little
things to do that will really reduce the environmental impact of Turkey
Day, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year's Day--and, of course, the
SUPERBOWL.

It's not hard to keep the holidays from going to your waste. And it's
profitable, too. Looking down our list, pick a few of the things that make
the most sense for you and your family. Once you get in the swing of
things, you can try a few more ideas. Next thing you know, you'll be
whistling "Green Christmas" as you enjoy the yearly festivities.


Portion Control

You've just finished your Thanksgiving dinner and left about a tablespoon
of cranberry sauce on your plate and one little bite of turkey. Not much
waste, right? Maybe not on your plate. But assuming we're alike, on our
collective national plate it's an enormous waste--around 25 million pounds!

This example illustrates one of our biggest themes: a little bit of effort
from each of us can make an enormous difference. We can't rely on a few
stalwarts to do all the work. If each of us pitches in just a little, the
results can be amazing.

Besides taking only as much food as you can eat, it's also a good idea for
hosts and hostesses both to serve a little less, and maybe prepare a little
less as well. Here are some portion guidelines to help you plan for meals
and parties:

Portion Control, Holiday Style:
(amount served per person)

        Eggnog 1/2 cup
        Cheese 2 oz.
        Crackers 1-10
        Celery 1 stalk
        Turkey 1/2 lb. raw
        Ham, roast beef 1/3 lb.
        Squash, sweet potatoes 1/2 lb.
        Broccoli, potatoes 1/3 lb.
        Pie 1/8 pie

OTHER FOOD-RELATED TIPS

If buying a lot of soda, cut down on packaging by purchasing large-size
bottles. If you insist on buying cans, forgo the cardboard boxes: they
create over 90 percent more waste than the plastic rings.

Bread and cereal bags can be reused to store food and other items.

Send guests home with leftovers. Use paper and plastic bags and plastic
containers. (This is a great way to get rid of all your excess bags and
containers, as well as excess food.)

Buy potatoes and onions in plastic mesh bags. When tied in a big knot, the
bags make terrific, long-lasting scouring pads.

Shopping and Gift Giving

Prepare a list of items ahead of time, so that you do less impulse
shopping.

Plan trips in advance and consolidate so that you make fewer of them.
Spending fewer hours driving to malls, shopping centers, and the post
office means less wasted gas, time, and far less stress. If we each saved
one gallon of gas, the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions that would
be prevented would total about 1 million tons.

Shop early, while you have time to make careful choices. Last-minute
spending often leads to panic buying, which leads to unwanted gifts. In
fact, it's estimated that about $4 billion worth of unwanted and unused
gifts are purchased each year.

Keep it simple--less can be more. One thoughtful gift may be more
appreciated than six random items.

Shop at antique stores, holiday bazaars, and thrift shops. Someone's trash
may very well be someone else's treasure.

Try shopping from home electronically. Use the phone, Internet, or TV to
select, order, and send gifts.

Consolidate purchases into one bag. Better yet, bring along a few bags
from home and reuse them.

Give gifts of yourself. Offer to baby-sit, wash the car, do the dishes,
and other useful things.

Make your own gifts. For example, you can make wreaths out of natural
materials such as branches, dried herbs, and red and green chilies. Wreath
making is a great craft project for both children and adults.

Old items can make new gifts. How about using your creativity and your
time to create a gift that will never be forgotten--or thrown out! A worn
ironing board cover can be turned into new potholders and oven mitts.
Empty lipstick cases make pretty, easy-to-find pillboxes. Used-up roll-on
deodorant bottles can be refilled with poster paints for budding Picassos.
And old clothes, drapes, and tablecloths can be used to make new doll
clothes. Just use your imagination! In fact, create something full of
yourself, such as a drawing or song, a poem, or a written remembrance of a
special time. These are treasures for the recipient and for you--forever.

Since lots of toys need batteries, why not give rechargeable ones as a gift
as well?

Donate unwanted gifts to charities, shelters, and the like.

Gift Wrap

Because it's coated, laminated, and embossed, gift wrap is not recyclable.
Rather than buy it, why not use colorful, easily recycled paper you already
have around the house, like the Sunday comics or an old subway map? Also,
kids can use crayons or water-based paints to decorate paper bags for use
as gift wrap--the kind parents and grandparents will cherish and want to
keep, and maybe even frame.

Save fancier bags you received while shopping. Use them as gift bags or
cut them up to make gift wrap.

Break down gift boxes and store them for next year. Those tins you've been
saving in the pantry would make good boxes, too.

Reuse ribbon. If every family reused 2 feet of holiday ribbon, 38,000
miles' worth would be saved each year. That's enough to wrap a bow around
the entire planet! (Don't forget that reusing ribbon also reduces the
number of empty spools that have to be thrown away, too.)

Give gifts that don't need to be wrapped: tickets to concerts, museums, or
sporting events; gift certificates; savings bonds; or donations to a
favorite charity.

Rather than wrap oversize gifts, put a bow on them and hide them instead.
Give the recipient clues to where the gift is hidden, turning the
experience into a treasure hunt.

Make the wrap a useful part of the gift. Put cookies in a flowerpot or
wrap a kitchen item in a colorful holiday-theme dish towel.

Shipping

Reuse packaging cartons and shipping materials. Old newspaper also makes
for excellent packing. Bring home shredded paper from work and use that,
too.

Drop off extra packaging materials such as peanuts and bubble wrap at local
private mailing centers (e.g., Mail Boxes Etc.). Call the Plastic
Loosefill Council (800-828-2214) for the names of local businesses that
reuse them.

Paper grocery bags can be used to wrap and address small- to medium-size
parcels for mailing.

Catalog Clutter and Junk Mail

In 1981, the typical family received 59 catalogs. By 1991, the number had
jumped to 142. We don't know what it is today, but it's probably over 200.
Here are a few strategies for eliminating much of the unwanted mail we
receive virtually every day:

Call the 800 numbers printed on unwanted catalogs and ask to be removed
from the list. Canceling ten catalogs will reduce your trash by 3.5 pounds
per year (and make your postal carrier very happy!). If we all did this,
the stack of canceled catalogs would be 2,000 miles high.

If you want to receive a catalog but think you're getting it too often,
call and ask if they have a less frequent schedule. Many of the big
national mailers, including Eddie Bauer, will change your schedule if you
ask.

Reduce junk mail by calling the Mail Preference Service at (212) 768-7277
and ask for their free mail-reduction kit. Or you can write them at P.O.
Box 9008, Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008.

Another, newer option is to write and ask to be removed from all of the
direct marketing lists compiled by major credit bureaus. The "Big 3" are
as follows:

        Experian, P.O. Box 919, Allen, TX 75013, (800) 353-0809
        
        Equifax Union/Opt-Out Options, P.O. Box 740123, Atlanta, GA 30374, (800) 755-3502

        Trans Transmark Inc., 555 W. Adams St., Chicago, IL 60661, (800) 345-2349

If reducing unwanted mail is your thing, get a copy of Stop Junk Mail
Forever. It's $3.95 and available from Good Advice Press, Box 78,
Elizaville, NY 12523. Or call (914) 758-1400.

Cards

Each year, we send enough cards to fill a ten-story building the length and
width of a football field. If we each sent just one fewer card, the volume
of trash would be reduced by one full story, or 450,000 cubic feet. Here's
what to do:

Be selective when you send cards. If you haven't heard from someone in a
few years...

Edition details

• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0449001687
• ISBN 13: 9780449001684
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192