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War on Waste
6 Easy Ways To Reduce Your Household Waste
Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!
1. THINK BEFORE YOU BUY...
You can help prevent waste just by asking yourself a few simple questions before buying something.
"Am I sure I'm going to use it?" - only buy things you know that you're going to use! Britons now throw away £23 billion of food each year; that's £460 EACH. For a typical family of four, £35 of food a week goes in the bin. Make a shopping list before you go so you only buy what you need.
"Is the packaging needed?" - Food packaging today is really about marketing, between 10% and 50% of the price of food today can be down to its packaging. According to WasteOnline, UK households produce the equivalent weight of 245 jumbo jets PER WEEK in packaging waste. In fact, 3.2m tonnes of the 26m tonnes of household waste produced annually comes from packaging. Avoid items that are excessively packaged, buy loose fruit and vegetables rather than pre-packed and avoid convenience foods with layers of packaging.
Every person in the UK uses up to 167 plastic bags EVERY YEAR. That's 10 billion bags all together. A plastic bag can take up to 500 years to decay. But there is an alternative - a shopping bag. Failing that, take old bags with you to the shops when you can or use fewer bags at the check out.
"Can I recycle it (or its packaging)?" - buy items that you know you will be able to recycle.
2. BUY PRODUCTS MADE FROM RECYCLED OR RECYCLABLE MATERIALS...
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Look out for products made from, or packaged in, recycled materials. Buying recycled not only helps to reduce the amount of waste needing to be sent for disposal (for example, in a landfill site), but it also keeps reusable material in the economy and conserves resources.
You can find out what products are made from recycled materials using the
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Recycled Products Guide >> click on image
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3. FIX IT, DON'T BIN IT
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Before you throw something out, make sure that it can't be fixed. Look in your Yellow Pages for repairers and restorers, especially for bulky items like bicycles, electricals and furniture. Or if you can't use something for it's original purpose, can it be reused as something else?
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Yell.com >> click on image
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Also, don't forget that something you consider to be useless may be very useful to someone else. You may be able to sell on ebay or donate unwanted items to local charity shops or local re-use, salvage and second-hand schemes.
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ebay >> click on image
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4. AVOID BUYING DISPOSABLES
Look for items that can be reused or refilled. We can all help prevent waste by buying products that aren't designed to be quickly thrown away.
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Try reusable alternatives to throwaway items such as razors.
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Avoid buying disposable items and look for items that last longer.
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Many household cleaning products are now available as refillables.
5. RECYCLE NOW!
No excuses, just start recycling today! Make it part of your household routine.
Take advantage of your local kerbside collection scheme.
Make space next to your bin for a recycling container, so it's just as easy to recycle it as it is to bin it.
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Join your local Freecycle group, when you want to find a new home for something -- whether it's a chair, a fax machine, piano, or an old door -- you simply send an e-mail offering it to members of the local Freecycle group.
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freecycle >> click on image
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Deposit recyclable items in a nearby recycling bank as part of your normal routine - many supermarkets have banks in their car parks, or change your route slightly to take in a recycling facility as part of another trip.
For further information, visit the
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For further information >> click on image
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If you've got a computer you don't need anymore, there are non-profit organisation who will pass on your computer to those who can make good use of it.
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For further information >> click on image
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6. GET COMPOSTING
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'Exposure to dirt increases happiness'. One more reason to begin composting: it's an excuse to play in the dirt. Why else should you consider composting? By throwing food scraps and paper waste (which can be up to 30% of a household's waste stream) in a compost bin or pile instead of the trash or recycle bin, you can create the single greatest plant food on the planet with which to keep your or a friend's garden growing.
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'Exposure to dirt increases happiness' BBC article >> click on image
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Compost is what you get when your green waste (that's tea bags, banana peels, carrot tops, eggshells and the like) and brown waste (wood chips and paper) decompose. In a few weeks or months, the result is super nutrient-rich stuff, full of the carbon, nitrogen and microscopic organisms that make for excellent flower and plant bedfellows. Composting is good for the environment and good for your garden.
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For composting advice >> click on image
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Printed and hosted by Prater Raines Ltd, 98 Sandgate High Street, Folkestone CT20 3BY.
Published and promoted by Liberal Democrats on Kent County Council , Kent County Council, Sessions House, Maidstone Kent ME14 1XQ.
The views expressed are those of the party, not of the service provider.
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