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Donate and purchase used items, participate in swapping, and/or borrow items

Approximately 12 million tons of textile wastes, including used clothing, shoes, blankets, and more, are generated each year in the United States. You can reduce the contribution of used, but perfectly usable, items to landfills by donating and purchasing used items, swapping, and borrowing whenever possible.

Visit a local thrift or consignment shop to find used items like books, clothes, furniture, and toys that are inexpensive compared to new purchases. Find local thrift store locations at Frederick.com. Or check out online and printed resources such as newspaper classifieds for specific items.

Donate or purchase overstocked, discontinued, and used building supplies, appliances, cabinets, windows, doors, tools, electrical items, furniture, and water fixtures at Frederick Habitat for Humanity ReStore.

Consider swapping goods with friends and neighbors or online at swap.com, barterquest.com, or thredup.com.

Learn more about the impacts of buying new “stuff” by watching the video “Story of Stuff.”

Compost at least 50% of your kitchen and yard waste

Composting is a beneficial way to use kitchen and yard waste that would otherwise contribute to a landfill. Instead, your nitrogen-rich kitchen scraps and grass trimmings mixed with sources of carbon, such as dead leaves and paper bags, can be turned into rich soil in a compost pile. Finished compost can then be used to enrich your garden soil. Learn more from our Tips for Green Leaders Composting Fact Sheet or check out this howdini video or an EPA GreenScapes video on composting.

Attend a composting workshop with the Frederick County Department of Solid Waste.  The Department also sells compost bins for $25 available for pick-up from 9031 Reichs Ford Road.

Learn more about compost bin types, including home-made bins and purchasable bins.

Interested in composting, but don’t have a lot of outdoor space? Vermiculture, or vermicomposting, is a method of composting that uses worms to break down organic waste. Kept in a small bin indoors, the worms produce castings, a rich fertilizer for house and garden plants. Bins can be home-made or purchased. To learn more, check out this Worm Composting 101 video or How to Make a Worm Bin video.

You can also leave newly cut grass on the yard after mowing as a type of composting. Known as “grasscycling,” this practice allows nutrients to be absorbed back into the soil so that your yard can stay healthy.

Do not "top off" gas tanks

Make sure not to “top off” your tank because it can result in paying for gasoline that is fed back into the station's tanks when your tank is full. It also leads to more air pollution due to evaporation of excess gas.

One or more household members live within 15 miles of the workplace

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average American spends more than 100 hours a year commuting to work. Residents of Maryland have the second longest commute time of all the states, averaging 30.2 minutes.

Long commutes take more money, energy, and time and generate more air pollution. When choosing a new job or a place to live, make sure to take your commute time into account.

Calculate and track your vehicle's gas mileage

Tracking your average miles per gallon (mpg) can alert you to possible problems, such as low tire pressure or dirty filters. It can also motivate you to adopt efficient driving practices. If your vehicle does not automatically calculate your mpg, you can do so by writing down the mileage and gallons of gas purchased each time you refuel. Calculate the miles driven between each refueling and then calculate your mpg using this formula:

______ Miles per gallon = ________ Miles driven ÷ ______ Gallons of gas used

Use fuel efficient driving practices

The way that you drive can make a big difference in the amount of fuel that you consume and emissions you create. Use at least three of the following efficient driving practices to save fuel:

• Choose routes that have fewer lights and stop signs. Driving on highways is more fuel efficient.
• Avoid aggressive driving. The constant braking and accelerating can increase your fuel consumption by as much as 40%.
• Drive steadily and follow posted speed limits. Driving at 55 rather than 65 mph can reduce your fuel consumption by 10-15%.
• In a manual vehicle, get into top gear quickly without accelerating harder than necessary. In an automatic, ease off of the accelerator once you gain momentum.
• Reduce your use of air conditioning. Instead try flow-through ventilation or open your windows when driving at low speeds. Driving with windows open at high speeds can actually decrease your fuel efficiency due to increased wind resistance.
• Run errands in the least amount of trips possible. Keep a list of errands that need to be done and do them during your daily commute or during a single trip.
• Use cruise control on flat sections of road but not in hilly areas.
• Remove excess weight, bike racks, and trailers from your vehicle when possible.
• Try to avoid high-traffic times of the day when planning trips.

Click for more tips on fuel-efficient driving practices.