What You Can Do
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle are ideas that you should do in order. The less waste there is to begin with, the less there is that needs to be disposed of responsibly.

Here are some ideas for what you can do:
- Choose wisely when purchasing: Buy the best quality you can, repair and maintain items, and try to buy used or refurbished instead of new.
- Sell, give away or donate reusable items instead of throwing them away.
- Shop with reusable shopping bags.
- Avoid over-packaged products and choose products with recycled content.
- Drink tap water or filtered water from reusable bottles rather than bottled water.
- Use reusable dishes and utensils and cloth towels and napkins instead of single-use products.
- Avoid wasting food — nationally, about 40% of the food we purchase winds up in a landfill.
- Cancel unwanted subscriptions and opt out of junk-mail.
- Encourage your workplace to start a recycling program if there isn’t one in place already.
- Participate in Howard County’s curbside recycling program (HowardCountyRecycles.org) and stay up to date on new recyclable materials.
Also visit the other pages in the Recycling & Waste section of this website to learn more about Residential Recycling, Business Recycling and Composting.
Litter continues to be a problem that vexes us all. Many people go out of their way to pick up litter in their neighborhoods and in public spaces. Businesses spend millions of dollars every year cleaning up parking lots. You can help by setting a good example of not littering and participating in volunteer efforts listed on the Litter Cleanups page.