如何在假期里减少浪费

如何在假期里减少浪费

From Thanksgiving to New Year's Day, household waste increases by more than 25 percent, and this extra trash — mostly food, shopping bags, product packaging and wrapping paper — adds up to an additional 1 million tons of waste a week that's sent to U.S. landfills, according to the EPA. Luckily, there are many steps you can take that will help you reduce your holiday trash — and even save some cash.

根据美国环保署的数据，从感恩节到新年，家庭垃圾增加了25%以上，而这些额外的垃圾——主要是食品、购物袋、产品包装和包装纸——加在一起，每周又有100万吨垃圾被送到美国的垃圾填埋场。幸运的是，你可以采取许多步骤来减少你的假日垃圾，甚至节省一些钱。

There are so many ways you can cut back on waste during the holidays. (Photo: yevgeniy11/Shutterstock)

Where to shop

去哪里购物

The easiest way to cut back on what you're throwing away is to reduce the amount of stuff you bring home in the first place, and a good place to start is with product packaging. After all, packaging makes up 30 percent of America's trash — the largest portion of municipal solid waste generated.

减少你扔掉的东西最简单的方法就是从一开始就减少你带回家的东西的数量，一个好的开始就是产品包装。毕竟，包装材料占美国垃圾的30%，是产生的城市固体垃圾中最大的一部分。

Amazon offers frustration-free packaging for some products. (Photo: Amazon)

Prefer to do all your shopping online? Before placing an order with a company, find out what kind of packaging it uses. If the website doesn't provide that information, contact the retailer — the company might be willing to ship your items in a more eco-friendly way if you ask. Buying online might even be the greener choice.

喜欢在网上购物?在向一家公司下订单之前，了解一下它使用的是哪种包装。如果网站没有提供这些信息，联系零售商——如果你要求的话，公司可能愿意以更环保的方式运送你的商品。网上购物甚至可能是更环保的选择。

The packaging dilemma

包装的困境

Bananas already come perfectly wrapped by nature. There's really no reason to package them again. (Photo: Scrap This Pack [CC BY 2.0]/Flickr)

It can be difficult to assess the sustainability of packaging. If you see two similar products, it's easy to assume the one with the least amount of packaging is the more eco-friendly choice, but what if the more heavily packaged item comes wrapped in mostly recyclable materials?

很难评估包装的可持续性。如果你看到两个类似的产品，很容易认为包装最少的产品更环保，但如果包装较重的产品是用可回收材料包装的呢?

Gendell explains it this way: "Take the banana, for instance. Most folks agree that it already has some pretty effective packaging in its peel, yet a small amount of plastic can keep it ripe for twice as long, doubling its shelf life. In many instances, the banana with plastic packaging will offer a bigger sustainability advantage because the banana — which incurred social, environmental and economic impacts when it was grown, harvested and transported — won't go to waste."

Gendell是这样解释的:“以香蕉为例。大多数人都认为它的果皮已经有了一些非常有效的包装，但是少量的塑料可以使它的成熟时间延长一倍，使其保质期延长一倍。在很多情况下，塑料包装的香蕉将提供更大的可持续性优势，因为香蕉在种植、收获和运输过程中产生的社会、环境和经济影响不会被浪费。”

What to give

送什么礼物

Head to the kitchen and make some homemade bread for a made-with-love holiday gift. (Photo: megscapturedtreasures/Shutterstock)

Gift giving is an essential part of the holiday season, but that doesn't mean you have to stuff stockings with store-bought products. Get a little crafty and make some presents yourself — we've got some great DIY gift ideas to get your started. Or head into the kitchen and whip up one of these scrumptious holiday treats.

送礼是节日期间必不可少的一部分，但这并不意味着你必须在袜子里塞满商店里买的东西。自己动手做一些礼物吧——我们有一些很棒的DIY礼物点子，让你开始动手吧。或者去厨房做一份美味的节日大餐。

Gift-wrap alternatives

礼品包装的选择

Handmade wrapping paper is fun to craft and shows that you care. (Photo: erika g [CC BY-SA 2.0]/Flickr)

Annual waste from gift-wrap and shopping bags totals 4 million tons in the U.S., according to the Use Less Stuff Report, and half of the paper America consumes is used to wrap and decorate consumer products, according to The Recycler's Handbook.

在美国，每年从礼品包装和购物袋中产生的垃圾总计达400万吨，据《回收者手册》说，美国消耗的纸张有一半用于包装和装饰消费品。

You may not have the same Santa-and-snowflake-print gifts as everyone else, but with a little bit of creativity, your gift-wrap can be just as festive — and not nearly as wasteful.

你可能不像其他人一样有圣诞老人和雪花图案的礼物，但只要有一点创意，你的礼物包装就可以和其他人一样有节日气氛，而且不会那么浪费。

Food waste

食物浪费

There are so many things, like fruits and vegetables, that can gain a second life in a compost pile. (Photo: Annette Shaff/Shutterstock)

This is an ideal time for the family to gather around the dinner table and indulge in some holiday treats, but too often our food goes to waste. Americans waste 96 billion pounds of food each year, according to the USDA, and all that waste really adds up — in fact, the EPA says that food waste losses account for about $100 billion annually.

这是家人围坐在餐桌前享受节日美食的理想时间，但我们的食物经常被浪费掉。根据美国农业部的数据，美国人每年浪费960亿磅的食物，所有这些浪费加起来，实际上，环保局说，食物浪费造成的损失每年约为1000亿美元。

Christmas trees

圣诞树

If you get a real tree, be sure to recycle it at the end of the season. (Photo: Andrew Malone [CC BY 2.0]/Flickr)

About 25-30 million real Christmas trees are sold in the U.S. every year, and regardless of where you stand on the real tree vs. fake tree debate, if you're going the real-tree route, be sure to recycle it when the holidays are over. Recycled Christmas trees are used for everything from generating electricity to preventing beachfront erosion, and preparing your tree for its afterlife is as simple as removing the ornaments and checking the collection or drop-off dates in your area. To locate Christmas tree recycling centers and services in your neighborhood, type in your ZIPcode at Earth 911.

在美国，每年大约售出2500万到3000万棵真正的圣诞树。不管你是站在真树还是假树的立场上争论，如果你要走真树之路，一定要在假期结束后回收利用。从发电到防止海滨侵蚀，回收的圣诞树被用于各种用途。为圣诞树来生做准备很简单，只要把装饰物拿掉，查看一下你所在地区的圣诞树收藏或送还日期就可以了。要找到你家附近的圣诞树回收中心和服务机构，请拨打911。