The new year welcomes the opportunity to pick up some new habits. It’s a great time to let go of a few bad habits as well.
Here are a few tips to be more eco-friendly on a budget in time for the new year.
Recycling is the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash and remanufacturing them into new products, according to Drawdown Georgia.
Increased recycling can reduce greenhouse gas emissions because recycling existing materials is often less energy-intensive than creating new materials.
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What can you recycle in Georgia?
Common items that most recycling sites will accept include:
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Paper: Newspapers, magazines, office paper, books, and thin cardboard. You can also recycle corrugated cardboard, but it should be kept separate from other cardboard.
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Plastics: Most plastic food containers, bottles, and jugs, as long as they are clean and free of food residue. You can also recycle rigid plastics like toys, buckets, and bins. However, you should not recycle plastic bags or films, or hard plastics like plant pots and chairs.
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Glass: Glass bottles and jars can be recycled endlessly without losing quality.
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Aluminum: Aluminum beverage cans.
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Electronics: Many electronics can be recycled, including TVs, computers, tablets, cell phones, and batteries.
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Other: You can also recycle metal cans, file folders, index cards, phone books, and pizza boxes without the pizza.
Erica Van Buren
Check with your local municipality for guidance. Before recycling, you should make sure that all items are clean, dry, and empty of food and liquid.
Additional tips on how to be more eco-friendly in 2025, according to the International Tree Foundation:
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Cutting out pesticides like weed killer and bug spray that can be harmful to pollinators, including birds, that are vital to the ecosystem.
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Allowing your lawn to grow long provides a rich habitat for bees, bugs and crucial insects. It also makes for a more climate-resilient garden.
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Swap liquid soap for an old-fashioned bar to save on water, plastic, carbon and energy. They’re also usually cheaper.
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Planting a tree or flowers in your outdoor space offers shelter for wildlife and pollinators. Trees capture pollutants, clean the air and enrich the soil, bringing balance to the local ecosystem. They even improve your mood.
Source Reduction and Reuse
Source reduction, also known as waste prevention, means reducing waste at the source, and is the most environmentally preferred strategy, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. It can take many different forms, including reusing or donating items, buying in bulk, reducing packaging, redesigning products, and reducing toxicity. Source reduction also is important in manufacturing.
Source reduction can:
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Reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
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Reduce the toxicity of our waste.
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Save money for consumers and businesses alike.
This reporting content is supported by a partnership with several funders and Journalism Funding Funding Partners.
Erica Van Buren is the climate change reporter for The Augusta Chronicle, part of the USA TODAY Network. Connect with her at EVanBuren@gannett.com or on X: @EricaVanBuren32.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Consider these eco-friendly tips to protect the planet in 2025
