Our current lifestyle encourages the purchase of a very large quantity of products of all kind such as food products, clothing, furniture, magazines, or various electronic devices. Consuming more responsibly is one of the many ways to develop environmentally-friendly habits. As a consumer, you can help reducing solid waste at the source in making slight changes in your purchasing behaviour. Remember that from an environmental point of view, the best waste is no waste.

A few examples of environmentally responsible measures to reduce waste production at the source
Shopping
Evaluate the product usefulness before making a purchase. Do you really need it? How long will you use it? Could you borrow it from someone else instead of buying it?
Choose sustainable products with minimal maintenance, which can be repaired, reconditioned, recycled or improved. Although the price is higher, this is a better choice than short-life-cycle products.
Use reusable bags for your shopping errands
Avoid products with overpackaging
Choose bulk products
Avoid single-use containers such as bottled water and opt for beverage sold in refillable bottles (if available)
Minimize your purchases of individual size products and choose family size items
Buy concentrate products (dish soap, all-purpose cleaner, detergent)
Limit your purchases of disposable products
Buy second-hand products
At home
Replace disposable products such as razors, pens, cameras, lighters, utensils, with reusable and recyclable products
Use permanent coffee filters
Replace your paper towels with washable rags and use fabric napkins instead of paper napkins
Say no to advertising mail by contacting The Canadian Marketing Association
Put a sign on your mailbox refusing flyers
Drink tap water instead of bottled-water
Use energy-efficient long-life bulbs
Use rechargeable batteries
Practice herbicycling (leaving the freshly cut grass trimmings on the lawn) and make your own compost for your garden
At work
Bring your lunch in reusable containers
Do not use paper cups; bring a reusable mug or glass
Practice recycling at work
Reduce the usage of paper by using two-sided printing, e-billing, banking on the Internet
Use both sides of a paper sheet before you put it in the recycling bin
Avoid additional paper copies
Use telephone, electronic message board, or emails to send messages and memos
Use spell checking and print preview functions before printing a document
On a regular basis
Bring unused material to resource recovery centers
Exchange, rent, share or borrow any article that you do not use often
Repair appliances, clothing, shoes, and furniture instead of throwing them away or buying new ones
Share magazines and books with friends