One of the best ways to reduce waste is to generate less in the first place. There are many ways of doing this and some of them are listed here. They are simple solutions that just require a little bit of awareness and thought.

Reduce

Food and food packaging

A staggering 20% of the food we buy we throw away either as leftovers or because it has gone off. so:

  • plan more carefully when shopping and cooking
  • use the freezer to prolong the life of things
  • make use of leftovers; and
  • compost food you can’t use

Much of our bins are filled with food packaging (much of which can be recycled). You could choose products with the least packaging or products that use recycled material in their packaging.

Paper

Paper is made out of trees using thousands of litres in the process – not to mention often using bleaches, chlorine and other pollutants. Minimise paper use by:

  • going digital – online news, magazines and brochures
  • using both sides of the paper!
  • buy recycled
  • put a ‘no junkmail’ sign on your letterbox – better yet put a ‘junkmailers will be sued’ sign on your letterbox

Nappies

A typical baby will get through about 5,000 disposable nappies, most of which end up in landfill soaking up groundwater and taking thousands of years to decompose. Eco-friendly options include:

  • using cloth nappies
  • using biodegradable disposable nappies

Plastic bags

Take reusable bags when you go shopping.

Batteries

Rechargeable batteries could save you $100s of dollars in their lifetime.