Waste Reduction: Is Your Home Doing Its Bit For the Environment?
Going green ranks high on the list of things many homeowners want to accomplish; however, this is usually easier said than done. The process of conserving the environment through proper waste management involves adopting waste reduction and recycling measures. The first step should involve hiring skip bins for your waste disposal needs. Secondly, think of ways in which you can reduce the amount of waste generated in your home and conserve the environment by recycling other types of waste. Here are some practices that you can follow to reduce waste and help conserve the environment.
Strategic shopping
The process of shopping for household and kitchen items contributes a significant amount of waste in every home. If you begin your waste management strategies from this stage, you can reduce the amount of waste generated, reduce the cost of waste disposal and conserve the environment. Instead of using plastic bags and grocery papers for your shopping, consider using a recyclable bag which you can always use when you go shopping. This way, you will be bringing less plastic into your home, and this will reduce the amount of waste generated.
Another technique that you can use to reduce waste during shopping is doing it in bulk. Shopping in small quantities leads to more packaging waste; however, doing it in large quantities can help reduce the amount of waste within a particular period.
Reusing and recycling
Not every type of waste generated in the home is meant for the bin. Many forms of waste can be reused and recycled, and this can significantly reduce what goes into a landfill. For instance, plastic food containers can be reused for storing spices, food ingredients, and other items in the kitchen. Garden waste, food scraps, vegetables and other forms of green waste can be composted and used as fertiliser for your vegetable garden. If you can't recycle items such as plastics by yourself, hire a recycling skip bin so that the waste can be recycled elsewhere.
Substituting items
Some items that result in more waste within a household can be replaced with other reusable items and help in minimising the amount of waste generated. For instance, you can reduce the amount of paper waste generated through junk mail by signing up for emails and stopping the delivery of advertising mail into your home. Also, when holding parties, you can substitute plastic cups and plates with reusable ones that won't end up in the skip bin afterwards.