Tip Guide: Waste not, want not

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BOSTON — With the holiday season almost over, we need to reckon with the fact that we generate 25% more waste between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day than during the other 10+ months of the year.

Garbage is not only bad for the environment and public health, it is also bad for our pocketbooks— and for the future. The pollution from waste adds to climate change, in more ways than one. In Massachusetts landfills are by far the largest industrial source of methane – a super-polluting greenhouse gas with more than 80 times the short-term warming potential of carbon dioxide. Food scraps (peels, etc. from food we’ve consumed) and food waste (perfectly good food that we toss) make up more than 1 million tons of what’s landfilled or incinerated.

Plastic waste is at least as harmful. It breaks down into microplastics and collects in our lakes, oceans, and eventually our bodies, where it can cause all sorts of health problems.

Fast fashion — sometimes made with plastics such as polyester —  is cheap to buy, but costs our health and environment dearly. Even using natural materials, producing just one cotton t-shirt requires more than 700 gallons of water and releases the same greenhouse gas emissions as driving a car for about 10 miles. Waste is everywhere we turn.

The good news is that solutions abound. Here are “select strategies” from MASSPIRG to consider in the new year.

Select Strategies for Reducing Waste in 2025

Waste is all around us. But New Englanders are known for our common sense and we’re always looking for ways to reduce/reuse/recycle. Here are a few:

1-Food Waste: Simple updates to food labels, better tactics for food rescue, and more opportunities to compost would help reduce the amount of food scraps (peels, etc. from food that’s been consumed) and food waste (edible food that’s tossed).  More information on food donation can be found here.

2-Plastics: While more than 160 cities and towns in Massachusetts have passed policies to curb single-use plastic bags, we’ve been pushing for a statewide law for years. Ask your state representative and senator to make this a priority in 2025. Meanwhile, companies could do much better too—ask your neighborhood Whole Foods and other businesses to stop using so much plastic packaging.

3-Fast Fashion: This clothing is usually sold at a low price, but we surely pay for it in the pollution it causes. Thrifting, mending, and ‘swaps’ are all ways to avoid the fast fashion trap without breaking the bank.

4-Right to Repair: We end up disposing of so many of the everyday electronics we use—cellphones, laptops, tablets and more— because manufacturers don’t give us the tools or information we need to repair them. If we had the right to repair in Massachusetts, we’d save a tremendous amount of resources and money, while cutting down on toxic electronic waste. Look for your local FixIt Clinic or Repair Cafe to get started on repairing your own things.

5-Packaging: We like to say: “Refill/Return/Reimagine.” While refilleries are a nascent industry, there are places such as Cleenland and Fulfilled Goods in Massachusetts where you can bring your own container and get it filled with various products.