Borrow or share items used infrequently

Consider renting or borrowing these items the next time they're needed. Infrequently used items also might be shared among neighbors, friends, or family. Borrowing, renting, or sharing items saves both money and natural resources.

For instance, rent or borrow party decorations and supplies such as tables, chairs, centerpieces, linens, dishes, and silverware.

Also, rent or borrow seldom-used audiovisual equipment.

You can rent or borrow tools such as ladders, chain saws, floor buffers, rug cleaners, and garden tillers, too. In apartment buildings or co-ops, residents can pool resources and form "banks" to share tools or other equipment used or needed infrequently. In addition, some communities have "tool libraries" where residents can borrow equipment as needed.

Before discarding old tools, camera equipment, or other goods, ask friends, relatives, neighbors, or community groups if they can use them.

You can even share newspapers and magazines with others to extend the lives of these items and reduce waste.