How to do waste management

FORAY | Sunday, March 29, 2009

The best way to reduce your rubbish is to have a look in your bin to see what you are throwing away. Here are some useful tips to reduce waste:

* You could reduce the amount of rubbish in your bin by up to a third by composing your tea bags, coffee grounds, vegetable waste, fruit peelings and garden waste.
* Think before you buy. Try not to buy items that are heavily packaged, opt for the items with less packaging, buy in bulk, or buy refills instead.
* Take appropriate old unwanted items to your local charity shop, someone else could make good use of it. If you have furniture or other household items that are in good condition and may be used by someone else, give them away.
* Say no to plastic shopping bags when you do your weekly shop, use a bag for life or a reusable cloth one instead. Bring your own bags when you shop and try to buy in bulk as often as possible.
* Support your local milkman and have your milk delivered — the average milk bottle can be re-used up to 20 times before being recycled.
* Try not to buy appliances that are run on batteries, choose the solar powered option wherever possible, or try using rechargeable batteries instead. Don’t buy disposable batteries, buy a charger and rechargeable batteries as they are much cheaper. It takes 50 times the energy contained within batteries to make them.
* Use low energy long-life light bulbs to save money, electricity and waste.
* Use cloth hankies and flannels instead of the throw away version.
* Use both sides of paper before recycling it. Re-use envelopes and wrapping paper where possible.
* Buy recycled goods such as writing paper, toilet roll, dustbin bags, or buy second hand products.
* Re-use your glass jars for storing small items like nails and bolts, old yoghurt pots make an excellent alternative to plant pots for seedlings. Storage containers can be re-used for storing leftover food instead of clingfilm and foil.
* Hire or borrow tools from friends or family for odd jobs, rather than buying your own.
* Magazine subscription: Think if you really need them? Save yourself a few rupees and buy them only when you need them, or agree with friends to swap magazines when you've read them. Don't forget to recycle them once you've read them.
* Re-use envelopes and wrapping paper where possible.
* Buy recycled goods such as writing paper, toilet roll, dustbin bags, or buy second hand products.
* Washing detergents — buy with combined conditioner. It saves packaging and money.
* Buy fruits and vegetables loose from a local market or grocer rather than highly-packaged goods from supermarkets. It saves packaging.

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