By being aware of how many uses you will get out of an item before you buy it, you can significantly reduce your carbon footprint and help the environment. Every year, an estimated 40 billion plastic utensils are produced and most of them end up in landfills or polluting the Earth. By limiting your use of these and instead using reusable metal alternatives, you can help stop this cycle. These are also cost efficient as you can have one that is used many times instead of buying single use utensils over and over again. As getting single use plastic or paper items is inevitable, you can reuse these instead of throwing them away. You can easily reuse plastic bags, to go containers, and cardboard boxes. Also, you can turn old these items which are often viewed as trash into cool think by decorating or DIYing them. If you buy less single use items and reuse the ones you do, you can save money and the environment.