10 ways to reduce garbage in the house

1. Compost: That's right. Buy or make a compost bin in your back yard, a place where you can put all your food leftovers and leaves and other degradable natural materials. If you don't have a back yard, see if a friend does. Maybe they would be interested in starting a compost bin, and you could add to theirs. Or perhaps there's a composting group in your area that allows members to bring their stuff to one area? And what does a compost bin accomplish? Put a bunch of earthworms in it and in about a year you'll have a fantastic natural fertilizer for any kind of plants.
2. Recycle: If your area doesn't already have a recycling ordinance, you can still recycle yourself. At the very least you can save up your aluminum cans and sell them at a recycling center. The price for aluminum often varies, but you should get at least a few bucks for a garbage bag full of the cans. Call your recycling center first to make sure you follow their rules.
3. Fresh produce: There's usually not much left over after you cook and/or eat fresh produce, so stick with the fresh stuff instead of the canned, jarred or frozen. Think of all the bags and cans and jars you won't have to throw out.
4. Old clothes: Don't just toss them out. Sell them to a thrift store, or give them away to a shelter or anyplace else that might accept them. Call first, however, because some places won't accept certain types of clothes or clothes that are too worn. The same can go for shoes, too.
5. Buy in bulk: Yes, buying in bulk would still leave you with containers to throw away, but over time it would mean fewer containers to throw away. You'd not only be helping Mother Earth, but you'd have fewer trips to the outside garbage can.
6. Stop the junk mail: If you can get off those junk mailing lists, this alone could save you tons of garbage every year. And who knows? Maybe if more and more people did this, eventually they might just stop making and mailing the annoying stuff altogether.
7. Repairs: This can save on garbage, too. How? Have an old pair of shoes you want to throw out? Take them to a shoe repair shop instead. The same can be said for many electronics. There are always computer and television repair shops in any city and most towns.
8. Eat leftovers: Lots of people throw out food they intended to eat but just got bored with. Stop that. Start eating those leftovers for lunch the next day. Or if there's enough for a dinner, freeze the leftovers until next week.
9. Use reusables: Instead of using paper towels, use rags and towels. You can always wash the rags and towels. Also, a lot of foods come in plastic containers that could easily be cleaned and used for storage or even as bowls to eat out of. Remember those big butter or margarine bowls at the grocery store? That's what I'm talking about.
10. Buy less: Sounds hard, right? Maybe not. Do you really need to buy the latest DVD or book? Why not borrow them from your library? That's less garbage, at least down the road if not immediately.