Reducing House Waste | 6 Essential Things To KNOW About Reducing Waste and Helping to Save The Environment!

Reducing House Waste

Recycling, reducing and reusing are all crucial components of reducing the amount of waste that your household produces.

Why should we try and reduce the waste our homes produce?

Every two hours UK households produce enough waste to fill the Albert Hall – not only is this slowly filling up the country’s landfill sites, it also produces harmful green house gases and is using up our natural resources. Recycling uses less energy than the extraction and processing of raw materials, so by recycling rather than producing new, we are saving landfill space and reducing carbon emissions.

Why should I have a compost bin at home?

Composting food and organic waste will not only significantly cut down on the amount of refuse taken to the landfill site, it will also cut down on harmful greenhouse gases. In landfill although this material still breaks down it produces methane, which is then released into the atmosphere. Methane is not produced when composting at home because the waste has an air supply. In your compost bin you can put all vegetable peels, teabags, egg boxes and shredded paper.

How can I cut down on the amount of waste I produce?

As well as composting and recycling it is important to think about ways that we can reduce the amount of waste we actually produce. This could be as simple as buying products with less packaging, choosing refillable products or opting for local deli produce. You can also save money and reduce food waste by buying long life food, not overbuying fresh produce and reusing leftovers where possible. Why not freeze leftovers? You can portion them for easy reheating and it will significantly reduce the amount of food that you waste. Think carefully about what goes into your bin and how you could make changes, for example rather than just recycling junk mail or throwing away old letters, switch to electronic online billing and remove your name and address from direct mail lists by registering with the Mail Preference Service for free.

How can I make sure I am recycling effectively?

Thanks to local councils nine out of ten UK residents have recycling collection, so there really is no excuse not to recycle as much as possible. It is a good idea to keep a calendar of collection dates in a place that is visually accessible. When recycling look beyond just the kitchen, you may be overlooking plastic bottles in the bathroom that can also be recycled. Make sure that your house is equipped for easy recycling by keeping a separate bin for recycling next to your main bin, that way you can quickly sort out rubbish and take bins out at the same time.

Can I recycle electronics?

Unfortunately we live in a society that tends to throw away items rather than fix and reuse them. With so many cheap electronics on the market it is often more cost effective to upgrade rather than repair. Electronics can also be recycled so it is important not to just throw them away. If you are buying a new appliance check with the retailer what their policy is on taking on items for recycling, at the very least they should be able to tell you where you can recycle your old electronics for free.

What should I do with other old household items?

There are other items that inevitably get thrown out from the house – old furniture, old clothing and old toys. Always ask your friends, family and neighbours whether or not they might have a use for old items. You could also make some money by selling old furniture in your local advertiser or on ebay. Even if you aren’t interested in making money, donate these items to your local charity shop or visit your local Household Waste Recycling Site to see what items they separate and reuse: often there are bins for old clothing, materials, shoes and appliances. There are also organisations such as Freecycle and the Furniture Reuse Network that will take away old items for free and make sure that they find a good home.

In order to make the best use of our natural resources we need to think more carefully about what we throw away, wherever possible we should repair and reuse items, or pass them on to be used by someone else. Thanks to comprehensive door-stop recycling the majority of your household waste can be recycled or composted in your garden so it has never been easier to reduce your household waste and help the environment.