Every product you use has something to do with natural resources and the stream of trash being produced on the planet. Everything from the substances used to produce the product to how the product is manufactured, packaged, shipped, and used impacts the planet.

 

Even products as simple as a staple use resources. Staples are made of steel, which is mined from Earth. The number of staples used every year in the U.S. amounts to over 200 tons of steel, and the great majority of them end up in trash dumps. When you have the choice, use a reusable paperclip instead of a single-use staple.

 

There is more trash collected in the month of December than during any other part of the year. This is simply because of massive amounts of people involved in abundant holiday shopping and extravagant holiday meals. If you are a person who celebrates the traditional end-of-year holidays, consider ways that you can make your celebrations less toxemian and more sustainable.

 

“We need to think about creating things rather than buying them, and say, taking a walk with friends rather than shopping. We are not going to shop our way out of resource depletion.”

– Deborah Koons Garcia, director of the documentaries The Future of Food and In Good Heart: Soil and the Mystery of Fertility