Whittle down your waste for a chance to win*! Share your waste reduction tips or photos with Waste Reduction Week and Future Friendly 

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, the feeling of love is in the air. How about giving some love to the planet? Designed to encourage consumers to make small changes in their everyday lives, Future Friendly is a program led by some of P&G Canada’s leading home care brands, in partnership with the Recycling Council of Ontario, the Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance and PITCH-IN CANADA.  

“Reducing waste is an important part of making better purchasing decisions,” says Jo-Anne St. Godard, executive director, Recycling Council of Ontario. “The products that are part of the Future Friendly campaign are prioritizing using less materials, resulting in less packaging waste. Purchasing products that have reduced their packaging, or that are packaged in recyclable materials provide consumers with alternatives.” 

To help you kick start your own waste reduction efforts, RCO and Future Friendly have come up with these simple tips:  

• The Recycling Council Ontario recommends packing litterless lunches with reusable containers, cutlery, and reusable water bottles. With these simple changes, you can reduce up to 30 kg (67 lbs) of waste per person each year!
• Donate used household items such as furniture to a used goods merchant or local furniture recycler, to give it a second life. 
• Make it easier for you and your family to recycle by placing a recycling bin next to every trash can around your house.
• Instead of buying more ‘stuff’ for that special someone, cook your sweetheart a romantic dinner, see a movie, or go ice skating. Giving an experience cuts down on the amount of packaging going to waste.
• Save those Valentine’s Day cards to use as lovely decorations around the home by simply cutting a hole at the top of the card and inserting some ribbon or string.
• Future Friendly recommends using Duracell Pre-Charged Rechargeable batteries in television remotes and other small appliances and toys to help reduce waste. Duracell Pre-charged Rechargeables help you use less energy because your batteries last longer and need recharging less when not in use as compared to standard NiMH batteries.
• Using hot water makes your hot water heater cycle more frequently, resulting in one of the home’s biggest energy costs. Shorter showers and low-flow shower heads can reduce its use. So can doing your laundry in cold water. In fact, you can save up to 70% of energy in every load by switching to cold with Tide Coldwater^** 
  **Based on conversion from warm/cold to cold/cold cycles for all loads in a traditional top-loading washing machine with an electric water heater.

 “Taking the time to reduce, reuse and recycle might take some creativity, but it can be fun, help you save money as well as help us all lessen our impact on our precious environment,” says Jo-Anne St. Godard, executive director of Recycling Council of Ontario. 

Now that we’ve given you some great tips, the RCO, Waste Reduction Week and Future Friendly want you to help! Submit two of your own waste reduction tips, or a photo of yourself in action – recycling, reducing or reusing – and enter for a chance to win* a Future Friendly gift basket, complete with Bounty Select-a-Size, Cascade Action Pacs, Tide Coldwater, Tide High-Efficiency, Ultra Downy, and Duracell Pre-Charged Rechargeable batteries.  

For more information and tips from Future Friendly, please visit us at www.futurefriendlybrands.ca.
For more information and tips from Wast Reduction Week, please visit us at www.wrwcanada.com.