August 7th - 13th 2011
Try To Make No Trash For An Entire Week
Celebrate No Trash Week by not making any! Get some friends together, advertise to your email address book, announce it on your blog, post flyers (previously used paper, of course) at your work and school! Tell everyone it's happening, then participate!
How do you participate? Strive to make no trash for an entire week. Try your best, but don't worry too much about getting a perfect score, especially if this is your first attempt to go garbage-free.
Think about what you eat, how you commute, how you move things from place to place, how you share information and take notes... Remember that although recycling is a wonderful way to extend the useful life of many materials, it still takes energy to remake things, and most end up downcycled until they wind up in the landfill. So treat recycling as a last resort, for materials you just can't find any way to reuse. For this challenge, biodegradable items which you turn back into dirt via a compost in your own yard or home do not count as trash. However, a plastic grocery bag kept only for reuse as a rubbish bin liner still counts as trash!
Help others learn from your successes and mistakes by sending us your comments and updates about how your garbage-reduction efforts are going during and after No Trash Week we will post them on the site. To share, email info-at-NoTrashWeek.com
August 7th - 13th 2011 No Trash Week Comments
Tell us about your progress over the week and read stories from other people trying this out right now!
Tips To Help You Go Garbage-Free
Check out these ideas for alternative things to use in every day life that won't end up in the landfill. You can also find some advice on how to modify your trash-making daily habits.
Projects To Help You Prepare
Some things you can do ahead of time at home or around your neighborhood that will help make the challenge easier.
School Projects And Ideas For Students
Ideas to help schools go trash-free, including student art, writing, and science projects involving learning about garbage reduction, material reuse, recycling, and compost.
Green Gift Ideas
Giving presents doesn't have to create waste. These are some ideas for eco friendly gifts for your friends, family, housemates, and co-workers.
Recycling
Information about what you can and can't recycle, including regional recycling charts, how to read recycling labels, reuse ideas, and a list of toxic materials.
Answers To Some Questions
Frequently asked questions and some other things you may want to know.
April 18th - 24th 2010 No Trash Week Comments
Some tips and stories about trying to reduce garbage output.
October 4th - 10th 2009 No Trash Week Comments
An account of experiences in attempting to reduce garbage output during No Trash Week.
April 20th - 26th 2008 No Trash Week Garbage Tally
Read notes about the successes and struggles of trying to live trash-free.
October 7th - 13th 2007 No Trash Week Garbage Tally
A record of the daily garbage and recycling output for one person trying to go trash-free for an entire week.
Edible Neighborhoods
Easy gardening with edibles and natives to help Seattle become a better wildlife corridor and community food supply.