What alternatives to the trash

Depending on your age or physical condition, you can sell or donate items that are most used. Through internet sites, garage sales or flea markets, it is easy today to sell or even to trade his old objects. You can choose to give your items to third parties or associations for reuse.

For this, some locations are equipped with a container to collect donations to the associations of objects in good condition.

Reduce, reuse, recycle

On a daily basis we use a lot of products or objects that become waste when used, damaged or broken. Before we buy them or throw them in the trash, did we apply the right strategy of the 3R “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” rule?

The 3R rule, what purpose?

It is to bring everyone to think about the prevention of the production of waste. It is indeed possible not to produce this waste by consuming better, producing better, prolonging the life of the products or throwing less.

food is wasted to the trash

Reduce food waste

The food waste is observed at all stages of the food chain and concerns all actors: producers, processors, distributors, restaurateurs, carriers … not to mention the consumer, even if it does not always feel like wasting. Indeed, every year an American person throws in the garbage on average 89kg of food waste. If a part, made up of bones and peelings is inevitable, it is estimated that the food waste represents between 20 and 30 kilos, including 7 kilos still packed.

Faced with this waste, let’s take some good simple gestures. Changes in habits allow everyone to reduce this food waste and save money because about $250 per person who go to the garbage every year: make a shopping list, cook the right portions, look at the expiration dates, cook your leftovers, store better in your fridge, ….

Alternatives to dangerous products

Home-cleaning, DIY or gardening products that appear innocuous in appearance, contain hazardous substances that pose significant risks to health and to the environment. Yet there are alternatives:
• For the maintenance of the house: make your own cleaning products based on white vinegar, black soap, baking soda, … or use eco-labeled products
• Pesticides: replace chemical weed control with manual removal for example, control disease by plant decoctions, or provide shelter for natural predators to control pests, etc.
• Do-it-yourself products: focus on acrylic and mineral paints or products with an environmental logo.

If you still use dangerous products, take all precautions for their use and removal!

How to get rid of dangerous products?

One place: special locations created for this purpose.

Reduce the toxicity of the trash

An aerosol can, a pot of paint, bleach, … these products that we use every day are everywhere in the house. Containing toxic or dangerous substances, their storage or treatment must be subject to special precautions or they may have a negative impact on the environment and our health. Toxic waste must therefore be dumped!

How to recognize them? They carry a pictograms representing danger.

Develop reuse and repair

Whether it’s clothes, linens, shoes, but also bicycles, crockery, books, furniture, appliances, and more, give life to an object, when it is more useful, is easy and necessary. It is important to make the right choice in a waste reduction approach, to limit incineration or landfill.

Invest in Art


In decades gone by, investing in fine art was relegated to those individuals who were well connected and extremely wealthy. However, that is no longer the case today as collecting fine art is now viewed as a viable investment strategy.

With a bit of due diligence and some serious research, investing in art can be very enjoyable and surprisingly lucrative. Additionally, Forbes Magazine reported that past trends in art collecting showed that this practice had outperformed the S&P 500 on several occasions.

In recent years, fine art has made some huge financial news such as in 2006 when a painting done by Gustav Klimt went for $135 million. This is just one example of how big of an investment can be made when you collect fine art for investment purposes. Although for many individuals, collecting fine art is their passion and helps to promote their prestige and status as well as their egos. So is fine art a viable and worthwhile investment? Many would say “yes”, although there are still many individuals feel it is far more frivolous and costly than other riskier investments.

Concerns and considerations

Naturally, those investors who are intrigued by the possibilities of investing in fine art should always keep the old adage of “buyers beware” to the forefront. There are three very important concerns that an individual needs to consider whenever contemplating collecting and investing in fine art:

• Beware of fakes and forgeries – remember that what ever is said regarding investing in fine art applies to only those pieces that are certified as being genuine. An investor should always verify with the dealer or gallery that the piece in question carries a Certificate of Authenticity (or COA). Another possibility to consider is to talk directly with the artist if they are still living.

• The liquidity factor – the ability to convert an investment into cash is known as “liquidity.” In the case of fine art, liquidity is oftentimes limited. Despite this fact, there are numerous investors who would tell you that this risk is quite manageable.

• Truth of the matter – taking the risk of investing in art has one solid truth above all the others. From and aesthetic standpoint, if you enjoy what you are doing, purchasing a piece of fine art because you truly love it because of its beauty as well as personal appeal, you can never really lose.