How To Reduce, Organise And Streamline Your Waste Management At Home

We create a lot of waste and much of it, as we know in the case of plastics, can be harmful to the environment. That’s why reducing waste and recycling as much as we can is so vitally important.

Fortunately the younger generation understands about the need for recycling and caring for our planet, which gives hope for the future. But what can we do ourselves, right here right now? You may think it may not be much as an individual or a family, however if we all endeavour to take small, sustainable steps then together we can make a difference.

Here are some suggestions to help reduce and better organise our waste. And with these steps, not only can we help the planet, but make our own daily lives easier with an efficient system to manage domestic waste.

There is huge awareness around environmental problems caused by plastic getting into the ecosystem these days, thank goodness but there is still a lot of damage to repair to the planet. The sheer amount of plastic in the oceans and on the land, endangering wildlife daily, is depressing. But we can take positive action by not adding to the problem. We can buy food with minimal or no packaging – why not visit a farmer’s market, or shop at a greengrocers and take produce home in a reusable canvas bag. Keep a supply of them in your porch or the boot of your car so you don’t forget them on a shopping trip.

More sustainable stores are popping up where you can fill up your jars and containers with staples such as rice, dried beans and pulses etc which is a really good idea – it’s cheaper too! You can also fill up your own bottles with shampoo, conditioner and shower gel. You might want to consider having your milk delivered in the traditional way to your door in glass bottles and also invest in some reusable water bottles and coffee cups for the family to use.

It really helps when everyone pulls together, so it should be everyone’s responsibility to recycle. Make it easier by having a good, efficient bin system at home – compartmental bins are a practical way to deal with domestic waste. Even a small kitchen can benefit from having a slimline kitchen bin to help organise your rubbish effortlessly. And if you prefer, you can opt for built-in bins, discretely hidden inside your cupboards. By having designated bins or compartments for paper waste, metal, glass etc you can separate and recycle items with ease and keep on top of the household rubbish.

Brabantia is a prestigious brand that offers cleverly designed products to help streamline the home and make chores a bit more enjoyable. Renowned for making durable and very stylish paper and waste bins, in this article Brabantia shares the 4 best recycle bins for every home.

Make sure you know which items your local authority can dispose of by checking on their website and use a calendar so you know which rubbish collections are due when and can put out the appropriate bins. Transferring the waste from indoors to your wheelie bins is a breeze when everything has been already compartmentalised. And by bringing less waste into the house in the form of packaging etc in the first place, it will be an easier job.

Also take advantage of local recycling depots. Most towns will have a recycling point, even supermarkets often have large metal containers in their car parks where you can deposit clothing, shoes, bedding etc so don’t just throw these items into general waste, as they can be reused or recycled. Some charities will happily come and take away large bulky items such as beds and sofas. You could also sell some unwanted items on selling sites such as Ebay, Gumtree etc or give them away on Freecycle. For information about recycling during the coronavirus pandemic you can go to the Recycle Now website.

Think about the packaging on a ready meal or a takeaway meal – it’s excessive when compared to a meal you’ve cooked from scratch, with ingredients brought home in a canvas bag. Even if you can’t cut convenience out completely, a few nights per week would make a big difference. Hopefully with all the delicious home cooked meals you’re going to make, kitchen waste should be at a minimum! However, we should all have a kitchen caddy to collect those plate scrapings and peelings etc.

This food waste can be recycled by the council when they collect your garden and kitchen waste, or you can create a compost if you have a garden. Or you could do both! Things like fruit, veg, egg shells, tea bags etc can by chucked on the compost heap.

Things like batteries, coffee pods and cat litter should all be disposed of correctly. Lots of shops now have a recycling point for dropping off old batteries as well as things like plastic bottle tops that can’t go in your regular plastic waste bins. A lot of cleaning and detergent bottles can’t be recycled either so to get around that problem, have you ever thought about making your own cleaning products? They’re less damaging to the environment, effective and cheap – not to mention quite good fun to make. Take a look at these easy recipes to make your own cleaning products.

© Copyright 2020 Antonia, All rights Reserved. Written For: Tidylife