Precycling refers to thinking ahead about the life cycle of any object you purchase or acquire. In precycling all the tenets of recycling are there: reduce, reuse, and rethink. It is really waste prevention not waste management. Think about it this way: what you don’t bring into your house, you don’t have to recycle out of it. Precycling is streamlined and economical, and here’s how to do it. 

Buy in bulk quantities whenever possible. Bulk means less packaging per unit; this reduces waste, plus manufacturers extend their cost savings on to you. On the opposite end, avoid single-serving sized products, which are much more wasteful, costing manufacturers more money to produce, which you then pay for. The same goes for disposables. Choose reusable or refillable products whenever possible to save the environment—and your  wallet. 

You can cut down on your junk mail by going to Ecocycle and stop the mountains of catalogs by going to Catalog Choice.