REDUCE Your Waste!

What do we mean by waste reduction and why is it important?

Waste reduction means limiting the amount of waste we as householders produce before we even consider how to dispose of it.

Its vitally important to reduce our waste for financial and environmental reasons. Disposing or recycling of our waste costs a lot of money and has an environmental impact that will continue to effect us and our environment for many years.

How can we REDUCE our waste?

First we have to look at what makes up our weekly household waste - the stuff we throw away, compost or recycle from our housholds (yes, even the things we recycle). Once we have done that, we can consider the ways in which we can cut down the amount of rubbish we produce.

What is our Waste made up of?

The average household bin contains, amongst other things:

• Newspapers
• Junk mail
• Bills and bank statements
• Plastic food packaging
• Cardboard food packaging
• Packing materials for washing powder and other household products
• Supermarket plastic carrier bags
• Glass jars and bottles (packaging for food)
• Plastic Bottles, yoghurt pots and food containers
• Kitchen food scraps
• Unused food
• Drinks and Food Cans
• Some textiles
• Disposable nappies
• Disposeable items such as razors, batteries and kitchen roll

Now we know what we throw away, we can start to work out where we can reduce our waste.

Packaging Materials

A major component of the average bin is packaging material (both plastic and cardboard). Although some is necessary, much is for decoration only. Reducing the amount of packaging we accept as consumers is one of the easiest ways of reducing our waste. We just need to choose what to buy carefully when we go shopping.

Ask yourself if you need to buy fruit or vegetables that are individually wrapped, or contained within a layer of plastic film and a cardboard punnet rather than loose. Although the item may look nicer, does this make the it taste any better? It probably makes it more expensive to buy!

If we buy bulk packs or large refills for products such as rice, potatoes, kitchen roll, washing powder or printer ink (to name a few), we reduce the amount of packaging we have to throw away when we get home.

Why not buy a large pot of yoghurt instead of a pack of four or six individual ones? Or a 4-pint milk carton instead of two 2-pinters or four 1-pinters? You get the same amount of food, but less packaging, and possibly less waste too. Just make sure you don't over do it! Throwing away wasted food is just as bad as throwing away excess packaging.

We could remove the carrier bags from our bins completely by taking reusable bags or boxes with us when we shop (in fact, many supermarkets provide 'bags for life' for a small cost - ask next time you go shopping). If you don't find this suitable, then how about returning your used carrier bags to the supermarket next time round?

Junk Mail, Bills and Bank Statements

If you don't want as much Junk Mail, you can join the 'Mailing Preference Service' which maintain a list of people who do not want junk mail. It won't stop all your junk mail, but it will stop a lot of it.

You can also put a note on your letterbox - NO JUNK MAIL - it might stop a bit more.

If you don't read the free paper that pops through your letterbox, put a sign up saying 'NO FREE PAPERS PLEASE'

If you use online banking and don't really need bank statements every month, you can ask your bank to send them less often - say every two months or even every six months. The same applies to some bills - you can ask that paper bills are not sent and request bills by email instead.

Sometimes we send out 'Junk Mail' from the Council (such as our recycling info packs) - Please don't shout at us, its the only way we can get our important messages out to the community in a cost effective manner AND our packs can be recycled or composted - we know it's not ideal, but its the best practicable option we have.

Unused food and kitchen scraps

Take a look at what the food you throw away or put on your compost heap each week. How much of it is waste food that you just have not got round to using before it goes off? Plan your meals with a menu system, and use a list when you do your weekly food shop. You might be surprised how much food and money you save! If you can, try to buy perishable goods from a local shop only as you need them. Fresh bread is much nicer than a stale or moldy old crust!

Disposable items

For those of us with young children, disposable nappies can make up a lot of our weekly waste. We can use 'real nappies' instead, and significantly reduce this amount. See our Real Nappy pages for more information on the modern nappy alternatives.

Disposable goods such as razors and batteries can be replaced with re-usable ones. They might cost a little more to buy at first, but in the long run they save money and cut down on waste.

Using kitchen roll to wipe down worktops or other surfaces is a very expensive way of cleaning. We can use washable cloths to do the same job and save money and waste.

So, now we know how to REDUCE the amount of waste we generate, whats the next step?

Click here to read about RE-USE