Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – a mantra we’ve all heard, and for the younger generations, three words drummed into you practically from birth, and for good reason too! Millions of tons of household waste ends up in landfill sites every year, with a lot of that actually being recyclable! Here are some tips to reduce your household waste so we can all work together towards a more eco-friendly lifestyle!
Recycle!
This seems like an obvious one, but so many people don’t actually know what they can and can’t recycle. Some materials aren’t suitable for kerbside recycling, but you can easily find local collection points for them – find out where these are and take your recycling there rather than putting it in the bin! Use the Recycle now website or contact your Local Council.
Reuse Carrier Bags
Always re-use carrier bags, whether food or clothes shopping. Cloth tote bags are easy to buy and you can use them over and over again. These are also ideal for keeping in your handbag or car without taking up much space. That’s another thing, make sure you always have at least one reusable shopping bag in your car for those impromptu visits to the supermarket when you’re out and about – it also means you won’t have to pay 5p for a plastic carrier bag.
Compost
The best way to reduce your food waste is through composting. Keep a caddy in your kitchen to remind you to keep food waste out of the bin, and maybe it will encourage you to do a bit more gardening! You can also buy large outdoor composters for your garden so it will always be to hand.
Cut Your Post
These days you can quite easily switch to paperless billing from your phone company, gas and electric companies, and credit or debit cards. Instead of receiving a paper bill through the post, it will be available to view online instead. There’s also the issue of junk mail, try to make sure that when you get it you ask to be unsubscribed from mailing lists etc. or look at stopjunkmail.org.uk for more advice
Try Going Plastic Free
Try the Plastic Free July Challenge! It aims to raise awareness of the amount of single-use disposable plastic we have in our lives (it’s a lot). You are challenged stop using all single-use plastic for a day, week or month, and hopefully once in the habit you will continue long after! This will work wonders on reducing your household waste, and even when you’re out and about! Check out our products that help to minimise plastic here.
When in doubt…
…listen to Jack Johnson