The Environmental Protection Agency has established a waste management hierarchy. The first step in waste management is to REDUCE WASTE. By purchasing durable items rather than disposable ones, buying in bulk and looking for other ways to minimize waste, individual consumers can contribute to waste reduction.

The second step is to REUSE. In lieu of disposing of materials as wastes, materials can be reused by donating them to charity, giving them away to others, or using them in another capacity within your own home. Through maximizing the use of items prior to disposal, we extend the life of an item and minimize the need to purchase or generate new/replacement items.

The third step in EPA's waste management hierarchy is to RECYCLE. Recycling takes an old product and uses its broken down components to form a new product.