Throwing it all away...

I am outraged. Really. I just saw one of the building's cleaning ladies in the women's restroom doing a normal clean. What bothered me is that I also saw her throwing away half used toilet paper roles. You may be thinking "who cares" or "I hate when the TP role is empty" but REALLY??? Is it REALLY necessary to chuck so much TP? I can't help but think about a few things:

1. The number of trees that could potentially be saved
2. The roll itself, made of cardboard, could be recycled
3. How much energy was wasted (in pre-, during- and post-production of that product)

UGH. I'm trying not to become a crazy person whose life is based on the three R's (reduce, reuse, recycle...duh), but the more I think about it, the more sense it makes. I want to help our environment, cut down on my own costs, become a well-informed consumer and prioritize my time and money. I think that all of these things are completely do-able, especially with the first R, reduce. I'm certainly not as dedicated as this guy but I certainly applaud his efforts.

Here are some of the things I do:

1. Cut down on my commute by working longer hours 4 days a week and not driving on Friday.
2. Wash my clothes in cold water.
3. Hang dry most of my clothes.
4. Use CFL bulbs.
5. Bring my lunch, in a reusable lunch box, reuse plastic bags, buy food in bulk (when I can), reuse water bottles and use a reusable mug for tea.

These are just a few, but I'd really like to find out more about and start:

1. Composting organic food scraps.
2. Grow our own herbs and a few veggies (do-able, even in a small apartment).
3. Buy 50%-75% of our food from local, organic sources (I HEART the farmer's market).
4. Drive even less; that means both for work and play.
5. Buy more second-hand items.

What do you do?