Waste Less, Save More by Precycling by Leah Blunt --> We’ve all heard the familiar phrase; 'reduce, reuse, recycle.' For many of us, recycling is a habit to which we have grown accustomed. It makes sense to find ways to reuse and recycle items so that they stay out of landfills and last as long as possible. But what about reducing the amount of waste of which you dispose in the first place? Enter 'precycling,' the proactive approach to the 'reduce' portion of our well-known saying. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans generated over 250 million tons of waste in 2010. Though recycling trends are on the upswing, there is something to be said for avoiding waste to begin with. While recycling is a crucial piece of the sustainability puzzle, it also requires time, energy and resources. By precycling, you are finding ways to avoid unnecessary waste so that you will be contributing less material that gets recycled or tossed out. The precycling perk? It also saves money. Here are some wallet-friendly tips that help eliminate waste from your shopping habits. MOM Brands cereals are packaged using 75% less materials than the standard cereal box. Because the bags still need to be reused or recycled, MOM Brands has joined with Terracycle to help encourage proper end of life treatment for their product packaging. However, by eliminating the cardboard from the waste stream altogether, they have created a win-win for precyclers looking for low waste, low cost options.