The United States produces around 292 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) per year. Recycling is a quick and easy way to reduce the impact of waste on the environment. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), around 69 million tons of this waste is recycled, and another 25 million tons is composted, meaning that a little over 32% of MSW is reused or disposed of sustainably in some fashion.

So much of today’s packaging is recyclable. Some packaging you may not even realize can be recycled. With just a few adjustments, you can lessen the amount of trash you produce.

Here are some things you can recycle quickly and easily:

• The cardboard sleeve that protects your hands from your paper coffee cup
• The top of your pizza box (as long as there’s no grease on it), even though the bottom half of your pizza box isn’t recyclable.
• The foil wrap on Hershey Kisses 
• Plastic bottles and their caps 
• Cardboard toilet paper and paper towel cores 
• Plastic wrap on things like bread, paper towels, newspapers, and dry cleaning can be recycled where you recycle your plastic shopping bags.
• Paper, including boxes, magazines, food boxes (cereal, crackers, etc.), newspapers, and office copy and printer paper
• Glass jars and bottles, and aluminum and metal cans

Aside from recycling, there are some other things you can do to reduce your impact on the environment, while saving money:

• Buy less and buy with intention. Nothing reduces environmental impact as directly and effectively as reducing how much you consume.
• Mend! Learning how to repair frayed or ripped clothing and other fabrics prolongs the life of goods. Textile manufacturing is a major source of pollution and resource consumption.
• Share instead of purchasing. Start a community swap program where neighbors can trade or borrow items from each other such as tools, cookware, appliances, outgrown clothing, and other necessities. These are also great for old recreational items you may be done with, such as books or sporting equipment.
• Rely on your local library, not just for books, but also for other physical media rentals; depending on connection quality, streaming services can use a tremendous amount of electricity.
• Bring your own mug to get coffee – paper cups increase waste and take up landfill space.
• Look for and purchase products that are made with recycled materials.
• Set your thermostat lower in the winter. Lowering your thermostat by one degree can cut as much as 10% of your heating bill.
• Set your thermostat higher in the summer. For each degree the thermostat is set above 72 degrees, you’ll save 1% to 3% of your cooling expense. 
• Unplug appliances when you’re not using them.
• Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible. Up to 85% of the energy used to machine-wash clothes is spent heating water.
• Install a low-flow showerhead.
• Take shorter showers to reduce water usage.
• Compost yard trimmings, as well as coffee grounds, eggshells, and fruit and vegetable scraps to reduce landfill space and help fertilize the soil.