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10 Actionable Tips to Reduce Waste At Home

Our planet has limited resources and with each passing day, we are depleting them. Human population is growing and along with it landfills. These landfills are hazardous as they pollute the air, water, and lands. We constantly produce and throw stuff which eventually ends up in landfills. This wastage is problematic at every level and will affect all of us eventually. Currently, we have reached a population of 7.6 billion and collectively producing 1.3 billion tons of waste. With simple tips and ways, you can reduce waste at home.

Effect of waste is already visible. Many people across different countries are trying to minimize their waste. Different cities have started easy to follow programs and reward people who help in this cause. Schools give education and conduct workshops which help students. Together we can save our planet. With some easy tips, you can start to reduce waste at home. Such as separating the type of waste makes it easier to apply different process in later recycling stage.

With these 10 simple tips, you can reduce waste at home and help us save our planet.

1.     Reusable products

Using reusable products in everyday life is an efficient way to decreases our garbage output. Some of the ways are using reusable grocery and water bottle. On average plastic bottle takes at least 450 years to degrade. You know 91% of the plastic bottles are not even recycled. And globally 1 million plastic bottles are purchased every minute. Imagine how many plastic bottles we are throwing away which will eventually choke our nature.

Ditching supermarket bags with reusable bags made of cloth is another way to reduce waste at home. These reusable shopping bags are easily available on the internet. You can keep some of them in your car’s trunk or beside the door for easy access. Using reusable products in everyday life can save money and decrease garbage output.

For more detail and price of Reusable Shopping bag in picture check out Amazon website here.

2. Learn the Rules of recycling

Recycling symbols and rules may seem complex but actually, they are quite simple. It’s very easy to learn how to sort out different material. With little research and sorting waste at junk, you can make a big difference.

Recycling rules vary from place to places, so make sure to check your specific area. Usually, recycling centers different color bins to sort out different materials.

You just need to put your waste in different color bins according to your area guidelines.

Check out details about pop-up recycling bins on Amazon here.

3.   Use Compostable products

This one is my personal favorite. It is the best way to reduce food waste and do eco-friendly gardening. Your excess food which is no longer edible can benefit your garden. By using compost, your soil gets organic and slow release fertilizer. Your plants will get more nutrients and will grow stronger.

Apart from having the wonderful garden and free fertilizer, it helps in saving the planet. If you don’t compose all these green waste will go to landfill. These they will just pile up and produce methane while decomposing. You can save all this by just using them in compost and letting Mother Nature do its job.

For more details about this beautiful compost bin in the picture, check this Amazon link.

4. Avoid Using Disposable Items

We agree using Disposable plates and glasses is very convenient. You don’t have to worry about cleaning the mess after using them. But the thing is at some point someone has to clean all that mess. These disposable items are creating a huge mess and our future generation will have to pay the real price of it.

You can avoid using all those disposable items by eating there instead. Nowadays many places are using entirely recyclable items for packaging. You can support them by ordering from those restaurants. Disposable items may seem more convenient. But in reality, they have cost both economically and environmentally.

5. Buy high-quality products

Everyone wants good quality products but they are more expensive. On the other hand, the market is full of cheap products which you have to replace regularly. Buy high quality may need more investment but in the long run, they are more economical. They recover their cost as they last longer. With them, you reduce waste at home as you don’t need to replace them regularly.

Solid furniture with good quality wood goes for ages as compared to cheap furniture. Well made clothing and shoes are comfortable and last longer. Energy efficient appliances and led help you save electricity cost and last longer. Having high-quality products is more like investing. In long terms, it saves money and reduces waste.

Click here for Amazon link of this cabinet end table. 

6.     Donate

With time we collect a lot of things which we rarely use. Sometimes they just pile up and eventually we reach a stage where no one can use them. One of the easiest ways to get rid of things is by donating. You should not wait for clothing to become unusable before deciding to throw. Instead, take out all the stuff which you never use. Consider which one you can use in that condition if someone gave you. Remember never donate something in the condition which you cannot use yourself.

Some high-end clothing, old hobby items or vintage items can even bring some money; you can sell them in many online websites or local second-hand store nearby.

Image source: Pixabay

7.     Go Digital

Have you noticed how electronic media have changed our lives? Nowadays you can read newspaper, magazines, pay your bills among many other digitally. Going digital you can help in saving millions of trees every year. Switching your billing from paper to electronic can help in being more efficient. You don’t have to waste energy and time sorting through all papers and arranging them. You can easily save bills in the different folder and arrange accordingly. You can easily access them from anywhere and they can be kept safe in the cloud. Just print them only when you need to provide the physical copy.

Physical copy of today’s newspaper will be almost absolute tomorrow. So imagine currently world population is 7.53 billion. Out of this even 1percent people are buying newspaper daily means 75300000 copies daily.

Kindle E-reader is a good option, check this Amazon link for more details.

Image source: Pixabay

8. Go natural

Buy natural products can effectively reduce waste at home. Before buying something in plastic or even metal, the check is natural alternatives are available. By using natural you can eventually put them in the compost bin and help in piling up landfills. There is furniture made up of biomaterials which are as functional as plastic materials and degrade easily in nature.

Usually, on holidays, we notice market have a different kind of decoration example plastic Christmas tree. These mass-produced products are sold in bulk because they are cheap and easy to get rid of. Instead, you can buy a real potted Christmas tree. You can plant them later in the garden too. You can get creative and make your own decoration using natural materials like broken branches and pine cones.

Making natural cleaning products and toiletries are very easy. You just need some inexpensive natural ingredients and some time. With easy steps, you will get homemade natural products which are environment-friendly. Most toiletries and cleaners are the combination of baking soda, vinegar, and some essential oils. You can reduce waste of home because of all those extra packaging.

9.     Repair old items

Just because your jacket zipper is not working doesn’t mean it is not wearable anymore. Most of the stuff which we throw is very easy to repair. You can do it yourself or hire some professional to do it. By doing so you are saving money and nature together. Don’t throw your old furniture just because of some damage. You can invest some money and repair it very easily. Then you can sell it as second hand or donate someone who will appreciate. Nowadays manufacturing is cheap and people don’t prefer to spend efforts to repair. All this eventually leave some products in good condition to get wasted.

Electronic items are the most common items which we usually don’t think about repairing. We prefer to throw them and buy new. Usually, many places have started programs where you can leave these items. These places have experience in recycling electronics and can use most of the material of your old device. On the other hand, if your item is still working then there are a lot of people who don’t mind using an old model of the product.

Image source: Pixabay

10. Shop in Bulk quantity

By shopping in bulk you can save a lot of money along with the planet. The smaller quantity of product will require more packaging and distribution cost. It means companies have to spend more money in small quantity as compared to the same quantity in bulk. This eventually increases the price of the product in a smaller quantity. When you but in the smaller quantity you need to refill your stock more regularly. It means wastage of time and resources. Nowadays most companies provide big packaging which cost much more in comparison. Buying in bulk is both economically and environmentally friendly.

Check out 22-pound organic rice bag with Amazon link here.

Conclusion

We all know how wastage is affecting our planet. We are consuming its limited resources at a very fast pace. This all will result in the suffering of future generations to come. If we reduce waste at home then together it’s much easier to save the planet. Remember the rule of RRR (Reduce, reuse and recycle). Try to reduce wastage at every level of your life. Try to reuse and repair the items which are already produced. And if none of the above worked try recycling the item instead of throwing in landfills.

Check out our DIY Guide to Spray Paint Kitchen Cabinets here.

Do you have any tips about how to reduce waste at home? Write down in the comments below.