COMMUNITY
and other hard to recycle items . Another option for plastic type items is Hefty ReNew Bag Hefty ReNew™ Program | Hefty . These bags ( purchased at Target or WalMart ) are used for Styrofoam , plastic straws , plastic cutlery , plastic bags , chip bags , candy wrappers , snack food bags , foam egg cartons , etc . These bags are collected at several locations around Metropolitan Atlanta – the list can be found here : Greater Atlanta Program | Hefty .
your changes but also educates folks about things they could be doing to make a difference as well . Finally , all of the news about the environment seems overwhelming and bleak at times . Doing these things gives us a sense of purpose , a sense of control and the feeling like we are doing something to make a difference . If we all participated in some of these , imagine the ripple effect we would cause .
Although many folks often donate clothing to various organizations , those organizations rarely ( if ever ) accept items that have holes , have stains , are undergarments , are too worn . To deal with these items , Ridwell is an option , as is ForDays . With ForDays , you purchase a “ Take Back Bag ” in which you place your clothing , shoes , sheets , towels , etc . When you send back the bag , you receive a credit on ForDays to use towards purchasing items on their website . Their website has sustainable clothing , bath products , face and body products as well as items for the home .
Recycling is also an effective way to reduce waste – so long as you recycle correctly . City of Atlanta residents should become familiar with the website to understand what can be recycled . Solid Waste Services Collection Tool | Atlanta , GA ( atlantaga . gov ). For example , pizza boxes , fast food containers and plastic bags cannot be recycled in the blue bins . Moreover , City of Atlanta does not want residents to place their recyclables in plastic bags ; instead , the City prefers the recyclables just be deposited directly in the blue bin . We learned several years ago that City of Atlanta had stopped recycling glass – so we keep our glass separate and when our glass bin is full , we bring it to our local liquor store as they have bins for glass recycling outside the entrance .
After more than five years of actively working to do more to reduce our environmental impact , here are some words of advice for those of you looking to make some changes . First , start with just one thing and incorporate it into your life . Once you are comfortable with that , add another one and when you are comfortable with that one , add another . Do not try to implement all of these changes at once . It will be overwhelming and unsustainable . Second , figure out what works for your household or office – some of the tips above may not work for you ; don ’ t force it if it is not right for you , your household or office . Forcing it will make it difficult to maintain . Third , tell folks about what you are doing . Sharing information not only holds you accountable for www . atlantabar . org THE ATLANTA LAWYER 23