At Home

1. Repair, refinish and recover items before throwing them away and replacing them with new ones.
2. Use rechargeable batteries.
3. Reuse gift-wrap, bows, ribbons and gift bags and boxes, or make your own wrapping out of posters, comics, maps or leftover wallpaper or fabric. Decorate plain paper bags. Turn old greeting cards into gift tags. Hide large, unwieldy gifts somewhere in the house or yard, and give a card with a clue, or a series of clue cards, that lead to the present.
4. 

   Over 13 billion pieces of junk mail are delivered to Canadian mailboxes every year. That's about 450 pieces for every person in your household.

   
   
   Make gifts like homemade baked goods and jams packed in reusable tins and jars. Or give cuttings from your houseplants with some homemade soil from your composter!
5. Write on both sides of paper before recycling. Use scrap paper for notes, lists, and message pads.
6. Reuse envelopes by pasting a clean piece of paper or label over the old address.
7. Buy paper products (writing paper, greeting cards, gift-wrap) with post-consumer recycled paper content. [Also, it's better for the environment if they're not bright white, as bleaching produces dangerous chemicals.]
8. Make a "Save Our Trees! No Junk Mail Please" sign for your door slot or mailbox and write to the Canadian Marketing Association to have your name removed from mailing and telephone lists. Write to: Do Not Mail Service, c/o Canadian Marketing Association, 1 Concord Gate, Suite 607, North York, ON, M3C 3N6.
9. Sell useable clothing, furniture, toys, sporting goods, CDs, jewellery, and other items you no longer want in a yard sale or give them to friends and family, or to charitable organizations for reuse or sale.
10. Reduce toxic waste by using less toxic alternatives (like vinegar and water for cleaning windows).
11. Protect our water: never pour hazardous materials down a drain or storm sewer or put them in your regular garbage. Take them to a Household Hazardous Waste depot for safe disposal. Contact your region's Public Works Department to find your closest depot.