This month, the Black and Gold City Goes Green Campaign is all about not acting trashy – or managing your waste, if you prefer. Keep an eye on what comes in and what goes out of your home, and save money and cut the waste you send to our landfills. Remember the mantra – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle; do all three!

·         Don’t need it? Don’t buy it!

It’s not true that whoever dies with the most stuff, wins. So think before you buy. And if you really need something, consider buying used instead of new.

·         Join The Freecycle Network™ or donate things you don’t want to a resale shop

As with most of the monthly initiatives, this action not only benefits the environment, but your wallet, too. Giving old stuff a second chance keeps something from being produced from raw materials. Finding a resale shop or joining The Freecycle Network™ (online at http://groups.freecycle.org/pittsburgh_freecycle/description) could mean the difference between paying for an expensive new couch or picking up a free funky seventies loveseat.

• Cancel unwanted mail, sign up for paperless e-billing

Unwanted advertisements in the mail are a big waste – for you, for that company, and for wherever that mail ultimately finds itself. Experts estimate that 44 percent of America’s bulk mail is tossed unopened; but according to Oberlin College, we each spend about eight months of our lives opening unwanted mail. By visiting www.dmachoice.org, you can still get the mail you want, while keeping out what you don’t.

It’s also financially safer. You can stop unwanted credit card offers and switch to paperless bank statements and utility billing. You’ll reduce your risk of identity theft, and save about 257 pounds of global warming pollution per year.

• Bring reusable bags when shopping

The Environmental Protection Agency estimated in 2008 that 3,960,000 tons of plastic bags, sacks, and wraps were produced; about 90 percent of those were discarded. A large number of those bags find their way to the ocean, where the U.N. estimates that there are 46,000 pieces of plastic for every square mile of ocean.

Your own multi-use bags will work just as well as single-use plastic bags, and they look cooler, too. Keep them in your car or another convenient place where you’ll remember to take them shopping. Getting take-out or only have a few items? Think twice about taking a bag. Dumping plastic bags will help you reduce your global warming pollution by 52.3 pounds per year.

·         Track your progress

These actions reduce the amount of heat trapping gases in the atmosphere. Visit www.theBlackandGoldCityGoesGreen.com to see just how much. Report your actions to see how you and the Pittsburgh region are doing to reduce pollution. No computer? No problem. Call us at 412-258-6680 or fill in one of the postcards available throughout the city.