Lose Five Pounds of Garbage in the New Year!
A message from the Recycling Association of Minnesota
We all pack on extra holiday pounds, not only around the middle, but in our homes as well. Over the
holiday season, Minnesotans create up to 25% more garbage. Here are a few ways to reduce your
“waste size” by recycling more.
Recycle your junk mail.
“In one week a Minnesotan can reduce 3 pounds of junk mail from going into the trash,” states Maggie
Mattacola, Campaign Manager for the Recycling Association of Minnesota. If you want to bring fewer
pounds of trash into the house each week, put a recycling bin right by your door for:
• Junk mail
• Window envelopes
• Flyers (glossy paper, too)
• Catalogs
• Other unsolicited mail
Even better, get off those mailing lists. Find out how at www.reduce.org/junkmail/index.html.
Lose 2 more pounds…
Many of us already recycle in the kitchen, but what about in the bathroom? These recyclable materials
often get overlooked and thrown into the trash.
Plastic containers in the bathroom:
• Shampoo bottles
• Mouthwash bottles
• Pill bottles
• Contact solution bottles
• Hair product and lotion plastic containers
• Remember the boxes many of those items come in can be recycled as well.
Holiday leftovers:
• Wrapping paper
• Toy boxes (yes, even ones with plastic windows)
• Shirt boxes, tie boxes, and all other gift boxes (Store slightly used gift boxes for next year if you have
space.)
• Reuse gift bags
• Reuse gift cards for tags or make them into postcards by cutting them in half and reusing the front
cover. Then send it to someone as a thank-you for gifts received over the holidays.