recycling: the last resort

we all know recycling is good. recycling less, however, is even better. recycling less means you're consuming and disposing of less. that should, really, be the goal. i am trying to re-organize my recycling practices to increase the convenience to toss and collect various things, past just the common plastic and glass, etc. so i hopped on over to treehugger today to get some info and noticed a great selection: How to Green Your Recycling. Whaaa? isn't my recycling pretty darn green?

the tips, though, highlight how we can take our recycling to the next level...and really, it has nothing to do with recycling. it's all about the other two of the three "R's": reducing and reusing the material you consume. when you think of it this way, in a more holistic way, recycling should be the last resort in your efforts to green up your life.

lately, i've been trying to take some small steps to increase my reuse. here are a few you can easily adopt, which have made the biggest difference in my amount of waste and recycling:

• Eat, drink with reusable dishes.
• Take my reusable coffee mug to the coffee shop instead of wasting a paper cup.
• Think twice before packing lunch or goods:
  
• the simple act of using a lunchbox instead of a plastic or paper sack can cut down
• travel with my running and biking gear quite a bit, and used to often throw shoes/laundry/etc. into (again) paper or plastic sacks
  
• wrap or pack gifts in recycled or reusable goods - decorated shoe boxes, funky product bags or wrapping made of magazine pages not only help increase re-use, but can be a pleasant and differentiating surprise for the recipient.

what are your recycling/reuse/reduce tips?