Do your part......or at least think about it.

For those not in the know --- The Freecycle Network is currently 5.5 million members strong, with over 4,300 groups and is active in 75 countries. FN also prevents 330 TONS of reuseable/good condition items from going into landfills. Already in its 5th year FN was brilliantly started by an AZ resident who proposed the idea to his closest friends, local non profit organizations and RISE - ",which provides recycling services to downtown businesses and transitional employment to Tucsonans in need."

Have you ever thought of where your garbage ends up? Living in Manhattan has depressed me, knowing that the city I reside in generates an astronomical 25,000 TONS of municipal solid waste a day while according to DOS - reports 13,000 residential waste pick up a day. Gulp, I need to be more vigilant about my intake and and outtake of product waste.

Yes, I recycle as much as I can - cereal boxes, all containers, unwanted magazines/catalogs and whatnot. I know our trash is exported to developing countries such as Haiti and the Dominican Republic along with our neighboring states. As residents we are paying for the transport of the garbage and you would be SHOCKED to learn how much is spent. Take a look at this NYT Letter to the Editor from 1989 on NY's Garbage Disposal. Bare in mind it was written almost two decades ago as a forecast of present day problems.

In 2001, Giuliani closed the Fresh Kills Landfill, the largest waste dump in the world, spanning 2200 acres and NYC's primary repository for 80% of its residential waste. Today, Fresh Kills in Western Staten Island is being developed into a recreational park, one that will be even larger than Central Park. With the closing of FKL - the waste was diverted to other landfills in UpState NY and international locations, on barges.

So with that being said - consider expanding the life span of your belongings and give something you no longer want or use to another person.

You can do a search here to find a local listing for FN or other recycle groups.