The most important thing we can all do to tackle the problem of waste is to reduce the amount we create in the first place. Some ideas include:
- carry a reusable shopping bag
- buy products with little packaging so that less ends up in your rubbish bin
- take your bottles, jars and pots back to shops which offer a refill service
- reuse wrapping paper and gift bags
- throwing good food away costs the average person in the UK around £200 a year, and the average family £700. The Love Food, Hate Waste website has useful tips on the storage of food, tasty recipes and advice on portioning
- stop junk mail through the mail preference service
- repair goods or donate items that are still in a good, usable condition to charities or charity shops.
- convert old clothing, towels or sheets into cleaning rags/cloths
- take a reusable cup with you or recycle your coffee cups - National Cup Recycling Scheme
- reusable cloth nappies are much better for the environment and they can also have cost savings of up to £1,500 per child in comparison to using disposable nappies. Fleecy Bums can offer a 10% off across their online store, using offer code CHORLEY10
Visit the Recycle Now website for lots more advice on how to reduce your waste.
Other useful websites
Love Food, Hate Waste
We support the national Love Food, Hate Waste campaign, and we want you to do the same. Love food, hate waste is about making the most of the food we have. It encourages us to only buy and cook the food we need and to avoid throwing away food that could be eaten.
Recycle Now
Recycle Now is the national recycling campaign for England, supported and funded by government, managed by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and used locally by over 90% of English councils.
Recycle more
Recycle more is a recycling information centre where you can find help and advice on all aspects of recycling at home, at school and in the workplace.
Terracycle
TerraCycle is an innovative recycling company that enables recycling of typically hard to recycle waste.
Freegle is a UK organisation that aims to increase reuse and reduce landfill by offering a free Internet-based service where people can give away and ask for things that would otherwise be thrown away.