Print
Share page with AddThis

Reduce Your Waste, Help Our Planet!

Reducing your waste:

Reducing your waste not only limits pollution and gas emissions as well as the amount of waste that will need to be combusted, recycled, or end up in landfills–it also can save you a lot of money.

There are many different things that you can do to try and reduce your waste!

  • Purchase used goods or products made from recycled materials.
  • Try to buy reusable products whenever possible such as rechargeable batteries, cloth diapers, reusable containers and bags
  • Pay attention to products that have less packaging. This will save you from having to throw out unnecessary amounts of added waste.
  • Whenever possible, try to repair and reuse what you already have!
  • Donate instead of discard

Food Waste:

Food waste is one of the easiest areas to address. Small adjustments can make a huge difference. As a nation in 2014, we discarded more than 38 million tons of food waste with 95% ending up in landfills and combustion facilities.

  • Reducing food waste is as simple as careful planning and storage. Planning out how much you need, keeping note of what you already have, and storing food properly instead of throwing it out can prevent you from having unnecessary amounts of waste.
  • Composting food scraps at home is another great option for enriching soil while ensuring organic wastes don’t end up in landfills. For the basics of how to compost on your own look here: EPA Composting Guide

Madison County Landfill and Agriculture and Renewable Energy Park

Madison County has been working on an Agriculture and Renewable Energy Business Park (ARE PARK) since 2009. The ARE Park was created to promote investments from private companies that center on renewable energy. Different projects completed include:

  • A 1.4 MW project captures methane gas from the landfill to produce electricity.
  • A flexible solar cap generates electricity for Madison County use.
  • 50 kW solar arrays built by a private developer provides electricity for Madison County to purchase.
  • 2 MW solar arrays are being built that will generate enough electricity to meet 60% of Madison County’s electricity needs.
  • A local lumber company uses excess heat from landfill gas to dry lumber.

Want to learn more about this project? Visit here for more information.

Energy Saving

Energy efficient products (HVAC, Lighting, Water fixtures, vehicles) can reduce waste and save you money. Water-efficient fixtures, such as low flow water fixtures, are a great way to limit water waste and expenditure. Energy-efficient HVAC systems save on electricity or gas.

For lighting, Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) and Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are energy-efficient alternatives to traditional incandescent light bulbs. While these alternative types of bulbs may be initially more expensive, they quickly pay for themselves with the energy they save. Energy Star certified CFLs use around a quarter of the energy as traditional incandescent bulbs and can last ten times longer. Energy Star rated LEDs use 20 to 25% of the energy as traditional incandescent bulbs and can last 25 times longer.

More about Green Lighting:

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) various programs help provide New York residents with a home energy assessment conducted by experienced contractors to identify and highlight areas that may be wasting energy and can be improved.

More Resources:

Green Vehicles or Alternate forms of Getting Around: