April 30th, 2012 
Elen55
According to the goodhuman.com, the average American family throws out 2,460 pounds of paper each year, 80% of which ends up in landfills. Obviously, this is bad for the environment and as such we should all be doing everything we can to limit the amount of paper that we waste.
Here are five really easy tips to follow for reducing paper waste in your home:
#1: Ration the Toilet Roll
Did you know that Americans alone gets through a whopping 15 billion toilet rolls each and every year (2011 figure)? I am sure that this number would be far smaller if only people would take greater consideration regarding how much they are using and flushing needlessly.
Young children are particularly prone to tearing too many loo paper sheets off from the roll each time they’re done with their number one or two. Kids aren’t going to limit the amount they use when they know you have a nine roll multipack sitting in the cupboard though!
If you limit your household toilet roll consumption to half a roll per person, per week however then they – and all of the adults in the house – will have no choice but to conserve their personal stock!
Another way to limit the amount of bog roll wasted in your home is to buy it boxed instead of roll-mounted. Children don’t often realise how much they’re using as a roll spins around on its spindle but only one sheet at a time can be removed from most boxed variants.
Be sure to keep toilet rolls away from dripping bath taps and showers too (even though this can be hard depending on where your toilet is installed in your bathroom) since those which inadvertently get soggy are likely to end up straight in the bin.
#2: Don’t Buy Kitchen Roll
I am sure I am not the only person who seems to deal with every single spill in my kitchen with a sheet or two of kitchen roll whenever there happens to be to be a roll present. In the absence of kitchen towel though, I will turn to the use of a sponge or wipe cloth which unlike my Bounty can be rinsed and used again. This is a much greener way of cleaning up and for this reason I have now banned the stuff from my home.
Many like the convenience and luxury of having a highly absorbent paper on hand and as such they are willing to spend significant money on the product. It is however, the earth that will pay for this expediency since this use of paper is really unnecessary.
#3: Remove Yourself from Junk Mailing Lists
One of the ways to prevent the amount of paper that is being wasted by your family is to limit the amount of paper that enters your home in the first instance. One of the best ways of doing this is to contact the companies that inundate your letterbox with junk mail on a regularly basis and ask to be removed from their respective mailing lists.
You can write these companies a letter, pick up the phone or simply return their mail to them with a ‘return to sender’ junk mail sticker (as pictured above) placed on the front of each item. Such stickers can be acquired from campaign sites such as stopjunkmail.org.uk.
If you are strapped for time, you can employ the services of a Mailing Preferences Service in order to be included on the ‘opt-out’ lists for many of your country’s major marketing associations (a nominal fee applies).
#4: Re-use the Mail You DO Receive
Even if you do register for a Mailing Preferences Services, it is still possible that you will receive items of junk mail from time to time. Some items are likely to be ideal for children’s arts and crafts – clothing catalogues for example are perfect for experimenting with collage whilst newspapers can be used in paper mache activities.
Remember that many junk mail and non-junk mail letters will comprise one blank side which can be reused. Collect letters that are no longer needed (and do not contain delicate information) for your kids and allow them to draw/get crafty on the blank side. Even if your child wishes their completed work of art to appear on a fresh piece of paper, old letters are great for practising on.
Alternatively, you can cut such letters into four and create a stack of note-taking papers to be placed next to your home telephone.
Be sure to place any unusable items of mail in your home recycling bin for collection.
#5: Make Electronic Notes and To-Do Lists
How many times have you been left scrambling for a pen and a piece of note paper whilst on the phone? Although my suggestion in tip #4 is a great way to recycle unneeded letters, using a note-taking app (such as ColorNote) on your mobile smart phone or tablet can also save fresh pieces of paper from ending up in the bin before their time.
Creating your to-do lists on your phone will also save paper.
The author of this guest post – Katrina Spero – is a mother of two who is a salesperson for a shower and baths company in the UK.
