Reducing Household Waste

Just because we’ll have the capacity to dispose of up to 64 gallons of waste per week, should we?

When considering the town’s finances (including your tax dollars), and the environment, it would be best for all of us to reduce the amount of household waste that we produce.

Andover households produced more trash compared to our neighbors in other communities. Learn how you can reduce your waste to save money and our environment.

This page brought to you by The Andover Green Advisory Board (AGAB).

Did you know?

Under the existing waste-hauling system, Andover households produced more trash compared to our neighbors in other communities (Figure 1). This is an excellent opportunity for us to consider all of the ways we can reduce our waste to save money and our environment.

Reducing Your Waste

Consume Less

This is the #1 thing we can all do to reduce the amount of trash we produce! For every 1 gallon of trash we put out on the curb, about 70 gallons of waste were produced upstream to extract, manufacture, and ship those goods to our houses. [1]. By deciding NOT to purchase an item, we are reducing 70x the waste from that single item alone.
Think about needs vs. wants. Do you really NEED that item? Do you already own something similar? Sleep on it for a night before making online purchases.
Find sources of entertainment other than shopping, either online or in person. Purchase experiences instead of material goods for yourself and for gifts.
If you think you need something, wait a few days. This reduces impulse purchases in the store.
Can you borrow it instead of purchasing it? Ask a friend, rent tools from a hardware store, or check out Memorial Hall Library’s Library of Things.
Can you repair an item instead of buying new? Check out the Fix-It Shop at the Robb Senior Center. They repair household items and mend clothing.
Use Reusable Items

instead of single-use disposable items.
Keep a set of reusable shopping bags in your car (or on your bike) and bring them to the grocery store and other stores. Also, use reusable produce bags.*
Make zero-waste lunches: instead of packing school or work lunches using brown paper bags and ziplock baggies, use a reusable lunch bag and containers. Here are some examples of reusable sandwich wraps and snack pouches.*
Instead of covering food with aluminum foil or saran wrap, use reusable food wrap.
Cook at home more to reduce excess waste from take-out or delivery packaging
Bring your own “to-go” containers to restaurants and pack leftover food to bring home
Bring your own reusable water bottle, coffee mug, straws, cutlery
Use cloth napkins and reusable paper towels instead of paper. You can even make your own by cutting up old T-shirts!
Can you read magazines and newspapers online instead of on paper?
Unsubscribe yourself from mailing lists to reduce paper waste from junk mail.
Compost

You can compost at home or use a local company.
Composting food waste reduces the smell from your trash can, reduces the weight and volume of trash, reduces methane* from landfills, makes organic fertilizer for your plants, and recycles valuable soil nutrients. Methane is a greenhouse gas 25x more potent than carbon dioxide when contributing to climate change.
Purchase at-home compost system and learn about the proper way to compost at home.
Compost yard waste at home or bring it to the Town’s Bald Hill Compost site.
Local compost companies servicing Andover include: Black Earth Compost and Bootstrap Compost.
Shop Locally

Shopping locally reduces packaging waste.
Support your local community by shopping at local stores rather than ordering online. We know online ordering has become really convenient, but it also uses more packaging. Could you purchase that item that you need locally, instead?
Shop at Andover’s Farmer’s Market and bring your reusable bags.
Recycle

If you do have to dispose of something, check Andover’s Recycling and Trash Guide to see if it is recyclable and how to properly dispose of it.