Office of Recycling and Solid Waste Management
You can precycle or reduce waste when you shop. What
you buy directly relates to what you throw away. Always take a few seconds to consider the
amount of waste associated with whatever it is you intend to buy. Here are a few
precycling tips:
At the Office:
Check
out the MUSC ROSE
PROGRAM.
Print on both sides of
the paper. Train your staff to use duplicating feature on copy
machine if necessary. Buy remanufactured toner cartridges.
They are reused and less expensive.
Use
E-mail and don't print it out messages sent to you.
Call
the companies to delete your name from unnecessary mail list.
Look for products you can use
over and over again-tape dispensers instead of throw away rolls of tape, reusable
campus envelopes instead of one time use envelopes, three ring binders,
thermos jars, rechargeable batteries, sponges, and so on.
Avoid excessive packaging.
Call your suppliers and ask for less packaging.
Avoid buying products that
contain hazardous materials, which are difficult to dispose of safely.
For example, you can buy non-toxic low odor dry-erase markers.
Avoid products that contain PVC. When burned PVC gives off dioxin
which is known to be a hazardous substance. All solid waste in
Charleston County is burned.
Use
three ring binders for materials printed to staff on consistent
basis. When old materials are obsolete just remove them and replace
with new material.
Look for containers
that can be reused or recycled, like aluminum, glass or plastic #1 & #2.
Buy in bulk whenever you
can-everything from beans to hardware is available without packaging.
Rent or borrow.
Look over the magazines and
catalogs you get. How many are unnecessarily printed on glossy stock? Medical Journals,
for example. Use your influence: Write to the publishers and suggest a change.
At the Grocery Store:
Use cloth shopping bags instead
of paper or plastic.
Buy fruits and vegetables.
(They're wrapped in natural packaging)
Buy organically
produced food when possible.
Buy
household cleaners that contain natural products. Avoid products
that say "warning" or "caution".
For Holiday Waste Reduction click on the tree 
For more Reduction info Go
To
Use Less Stuff Report
Patient Care