The average American produces 130 lbs. of food waste per year. Some work to combat that waste by re-using scraps or composting, but much less attention is paid to the value of a simple garbage disposal. When you dispose of food in your disposal it is ground into liquid and processed through water treatment plants. There, the food waste is separated as biosolids to be re-used in various forms for agriculture and forestry industries and can even be used as a renewable fuel source. Methane from this process is also captured and reused as fuel. 

Food waste mixed in with your trash and sent to a landfill takes much longer to break down and, in that case, its value cannot be recaptured. The simple use of your current disposal to get rid of all food scraps or the installation of a disposal in your home can help save the planet.

Packing yourself a lunch using one disposable sandwich bag each day means that you could be adding 260 pieces of plastic to landfills per year. You may also use these handy bags for other uses, such as storing small hardware, toys and toiletries. Even if you re-use your disposable bags, they tend to wear out quickly. Stronger, reusable bags that function just like disposable bags are available and will save you money over time, in addition to helping to keep unnecessary plastics out of landfills. 

If you haven’t switched to LED bulbs in your home, it is a great time to do it. The cost of these bulbs has gone down significantly over the past decade and is now on par with older incandescent bulbs. LED bulbs not only use 80% less energy than comparable incandescent bulbs, but they also last about 50 times longer. Replacing your incandescent bulb in that difficult-to-reach light fixture means you may not need to worry about it for the next 15-20 years. 

To easily find the equivalent wattage between LED and incandescent bulbs, multiply LED wattage by 6 then round to the nearest common wattage. For example, a 6-watt LED bulb is equivalent to a 40-watt incandescent bulb.