Zero Waste?

One of my goals for this year is to be as near zero waste as possible. There are some things that I'm not willing to do, like reuse toilet paper, etc, so I'll never be able to be completely zero waste. I have come up with plans to overcome some of the obstacles preventing me from getting close to zero waste, such as buying pre-owned video games to eliminate plastic shrink wrap. The problem with this is that I want to support the industry, which buying used games does not do. I am trying to come up with a solution to this problem, but I'm not going to let it hinder my progress.

Last week, I was excited to discover that I had less than a grocery sized bag of "new" trash to send to the landfill. That may not seem like a huge deal, but considering that we used to have at least a large trash bag full each week, I see it as progress. Once I realized that most "waste" can either be composted or recycled, our trash was cut drastically. My compost bin has become my biggest green asset (although, it is black.)

To help me meet my goal, I am focusing on "pre-cycling" at the store, by looking at packaging, as well as price and quality. This is something that I have been terrible at paying attention to previously. Most of the garbage we had was plastic containers that were made of #5 or #6 plastic, which is not accepted by any recycling centers near us. There were also some plastic bands from the tops of containers (yogurt, etc.) I have recently noticed that Stonyfield yogurt, which is also organic, does not have the plastic bands. I need to find out now if you can recycle the foil lids though. The problem is that the actual container is #6 (I think), and I don't know what to do with them.

As of now, my other green project wish list includes building a greenhouse using the windows we're going to be replacing, finding a rain barrel, and finding more ways to reuse things that I would normally discard. I'm also going to start keeping plastic containers in my trunk for when we go out to eat so that we can put leftovers into them instead of using the throw-away styrofoam containers that most restaurants offer.

Please feel free to leave comments with your own green ideas and advice!