Reduce, Reuse, Refill

Aiming for zero waste is a full time commitment for the Port of Portland (Oregon) Waste Minimization Team. Reusing unused office furniture and developing a central collection system for food donations are just two ways Grace Stainbeck and her team creatively reduce waste at the Portland International Airport. Read More

Next time you go out shopping, #ThinkTwice before you buy. The products you buy have an impact that reaches deeper than your wallet. Read More

Nancy Matson, a woman on a mission to keep stuff out of landfills, provides helpful tips for putting the items you don't need anymore into the hands of people who can use them. Read More

The reasons why we prevent waste aren't just about saving money or the environment - it also makes us feel good, and a whole lot more! Read More

What if items at the thrift shop came with a note from the previous owner? Notes can potentially add value that can boost thrift shop sales. Read More

Jacquie Ottman, founder of WeHateToWaste.com critiques 'Racing To Zero' documentary about San Francisco's zero waste efforts. Concludes that is risks sending a message that recycling may be preferable to waste reduction and reuse. Read More

Australia's Rebecca Prince-Ruiz (founder of Plastic-free July) shares insights from a fellowship that took her around the world to discover solutions to ocean plastic waste. Read on to learn about the specific initiatives she explored for addressing the issues both upstream and down. Read More

Trying hard to recycle less and reuse more makes perfect sense when you realize that reusing uses up fewer resources than recycling. Filmmaker Alex Eaves tells us what led him to make a documentary about reuse. Read More

Karen Schiff is excited about a new kitchen consignment store. She used to buy low quality kitchen products new and had to replace them a few years later. Now she buys durable products that have a longer lifespan. Read More

Reuse expert MaryEllen Etienne of the Reuse Institute tells us how she turned her love for reuse into a career. She reminds us how easy it can be to find creative ways to reuse, and invites us to break our single-use habits. Read More

We’re all familiar with the Capital One slogan, “What’s in your wallet?” reduce-reuse-refill tips icon But I didn’t expect waste-watcher-in-chief, Jacquie Ottman to pose a similar question over lunch: "What's in your purse? What reusables do you carry that help you prevent waste?" Read More

Our family tradition of wrapping presents in fabric gift bags began as little brown paper bags. When my parents were first married in 1942, they lived in a basement apartment, the ceiling crisscrossed with pipes. For one of Mom’s birthdays, when Pop couldn’t afford much, he got her a bunch of little gifts, “Ning-A-Nings,” as we call them. He put them in little brown paper bags and hung them with string on the pipes. When Mom came home from work, she was greeted with all these little bags of surprises. She loved it! We had paper bag birthdays from that point on! Read More