Recycling can be a task that may seem so mundane but is so necessary if we want to keep the health of our bodies and our ecosystem in homeostasis. In 2013, we as Americans created 254 million tons of waste and recycled or composed about 87 million tons of this material according to Municipal Solid Waste EPA archives. These figures are a low ball of the amount of waste we are creating 6 years later with the rise and ease of shipping and packaging for single-use plastics. We may all not be able to participate in roadside garbage cleanups, oceanside or beach clean-ups, but we all have time to take a few moments in our day to assess what plastics we really NEED in our lives and what products we can live without.

The infographic below describes a few simple ways that take minimal effort and sacrifice, that can pay off dividends in the future. They are actionable steps we call all take to lighten the load that we up on our landfills and waste that ends up in our oceans. 80% of waste that is found in our oceans, made its way there by land. If we can find ways to reduce and slow the flow of pollution, we can begin to think of ways to stop it at the source.