How to Actively Reduce Your Household Waste

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Reducing your household waste is beneficial for you (time and money) as well as being a huge benefit for the environment (fewer resources used, less waste going to landfill/incineration, reduced littering from bin emptying) but I know that when this is mentioned, it can seem quite daunting. Luckily for you, I have been actively reducing my household waste for a number of years and I am going to share some of my top tips with you here today…

Where to Start with Reducing Waste

When your bins are constantly overflowing and all you can see is mess, knowing where to start can be overwhelming, so this is where you need to break it all down. A waste audit is a really great way of making yourself aware of what you are buying, what then ends up in the bin, where the problems lie and once completed, it will give you some ideas of where you’ll want to make your changes. A waste audit simply needs to be a piece of paper next to your bin/bins where you can tally up what you throw away throughout an average week. From here you will be able to see what is going in – food, plastics, cardboard, foil, wrappers, packaging etc – and then using this blog, you’ll be able to see what you can do with these instead.

Food Waste

Food waste is a HUGE problem worldwide with the UK wasting around 9.5 million tonnes every single year! My tips for tackling this are:

  • Meal planning and writing a shopping list that you can stick to
  • Weighing and measuring ingredients sufficiently during meal prep in order to make sure you are making the right amount for the number of people you are cooking for
  • Storing leftovers correctly and using them up as quickly as possible e.g. if you make a large pasta bake, cover and store it in the fridge once it is cooled and this can be lunch for the following day
  • Ignoring best before dates and using your nose or taste to check. Legally food has to have best before dates but not all will go off within that time frame so always check before throwing out
  • Freezing items to increase lifespan e.g. leftovers, bread, milk
  • Offering food, fruit/veg, leftovers etc. to neighbours or friends if you have no use for them
  • Composting. I love composting, it is a simple way of turning what you don’t need into something you do need. In terms of what CAN go into your bin this will be uncooked food stuffs such as vegetables and fruit that are past their best and scraps and skin/cores from both from their prep. You will also be able to add tea leaves, coffee granules, egg shells, nut shells and tea bags IF they are not plastic lined.

Plastic Waste

We all know that plastic waste is a big issue but also that it is pretty hard to avoid especially when it comes to packaging (mostly food). From your audit, you’ll be able to see what types of plastics you are throwing out, how many you are using and how often this is occurring. So, what can you do about them?…

  • Switch them out – is your bin bulging from empty plastic water bottles, single-use coffee cups, shampoo bottles, and soap dispenser bottles? If so, the easiest way to combat this is to make some sustainable swaps, for example, reusable bottles/cups, shampoo and conditioner bars, soap bars, and refillable shower gel/shampoo/soap. There are so many amazing options now specifically designed to help your pocket and the planet, it’s just a case of looking for out for them. Online eco shops, Etsy, The Body Shop, Lush, Holland and Barrett and refill stores are all great places in which to start your search.
  • Reuse – If that plastic container/bottle can be reused and repurposed in some other way, why not wash it up and keep it for another job?
  • Recycle correctly – Soft plastics can go to most supermarkets for recycling, bottles can usually go in your kerbside recycling bin and for those that can’t (always check your local authority website for a list), look for local Terracycle points. If you have a pet that has food in a pouch these can be washed out and recycled with soft plastics at a supermarket or at Pets at Home.

Soft Plastics Include:

Bags: Bread bags, cereal liners, delivery bags, fruit and vegetable bags, frozen food bags, carrier bags

Film: Cling film, plastic film lids

Wrapping: Wrapping for meat, fish, cheese, crisps, biscuits, chocolate, toilet paper, tissues

Pouches: Plastic pouches for pet food, baby food, detergent

Bubble wrap: Bubble wrap, Ziploc bags

Cardboard

As long as it is clean and dry, all cardboard is recyclable and compostable so keep this well away from your normal waste bin. If you are going to compost your cardboard, make sure you shred it up into smaller pieces and don’t overdo it because a compost bin needs a good mix of browns and greens to break down – you can learn more about composting in this article here.

Paper

Basically the same as above as long as it doesn’t have anything stuck on (such as kids crafts), isn’t laminated with anything (think shiny leaflets) and isn’t shredded, paper is fully recyclable. If you do shred, it can be added to your compost bin.

Glass

Glass can be recycled kerbside and at local recycling stations. If you get your milk in plastic bottles at the shop you could consider switching to using a milkman who will provide milk, oat milk, juices and smoothies in glass bottles which can be returned back each week.

Tin Foil and Cans

Aluminium foil tin and cans are 100% infinitely recyclable and most kerbside services take these so wash them out, leave them to air dry and pop them into your recycling bin. If your local authority doesn’t accept these (mine takes cans but not tin foil annoyingly) many recycling stations do. Just make sure that you scrunch your tin foil into a fist sized ball before dropping it off.

Batteries

Batteries are a common item found in all households but putting these in a normal bin is not only a big no no environmentally but it is also extremely dangerous for those working in the waste removal services. Batteries can cause fires and contaminate areas if they leak so make sure you recycle these at local points (many shops offer this) or choose rechargeable batteries over single-use (this will save you money in the long run).

Toothbrushes

Plastic toothbrushes are a plastic habit everyone should endeavor to break away from. They are usually made from virgin plastics, they cannot be easily recycled and they will take over 500 years to breakdown. When you think about the fact that these are supposed to be replaced every 3 months, I dread to think how many have been thrown into the bin since they were invented. Your better options would be either a manual bamboo toothbrush which can be composted (not the bristles) or a sustainable electric toothbrush like the SURI which you can get 10% off of as my reader when you shop here.

Clothing

When I did a quick internet search of the most common things people throw away, clothing actually did come up. I know getting rid of unwanted clothes can be tricky or annoying but there are plenty of places you should think of before the bin such as donating to a charity shop or shelter, passing onto friends, selling on Vinted or eBay, posting in a local freebie Facebook group, taking it to a recycle point or you could cut it into pieces and make yourself some new cleaning cloths.

These donating/selling options will also work for toys, shoes, furniture, homeware etc. I promise someone will welcome what you no longer need or use.

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Switching to Reusables

One of the best ways to reduce waste and to save money in the long run is to switch over to reusable items. Items such as cling film, wipes, nappies, kitchen roll, period products and so on all have reusable alternatives available on the market and I have a list of 55 you may want to consider in this blog here. My website is also full of information on a lot of reusable products so do use my search bar if you’d like to find out more.

Some favourite reusables we use include:

  • Wipes – all types of wipes. Baby wipes, cleaning wipes/cloths, reusable kitchen roll
  • Beeswax wraps
  • Period pants, cloth sanitary pads and menstrual cup
  • Reusable nappies (when my child was smaller)
  • Sandwich bags
  • Stasher bags
  • Silicone covers
  • Water bottle
  • Tea/coffee cup
  • Tea strainers

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Choose Compostables

Yep, I’m back to that compost bin, it’s just such a fantastic way of reducing waste. One of my favourite swaps has to be to compostable sponges and brushes for washing up. Made using natural fibres rather than plastics, these are better for your health, work amazingly, can be easily washed/cleaned/sterilised and used for a long period, and can be popped into your compost at the end of their life. I would highly recommend checking out the ranges at Seep and I can give you 15% off your purchases with the code emmawrites. I also love these eco-living washing up brushes from Ethical Superstore as the heads can be composted and replaced.

For shower gel, we get refills from Wild with the bonus being that their bottles are compostable. You can get 20% off with my code EMMA2025. Lush is a fab shop to use for a wide range of beauty and bathroom products and they offer mostly packaging free products but some do come wrapped and these are usually compostable (check the labels).

Choose to Refill

If you are fortunate enough to have a refill shop nearby, do go and check it out and see what you can refill in reusable tubs/jars/bottles rather than repeatedly buying pre-packaged products. Most shops will have a range of dried foods, sweets, cleaning products, toiletries plus other eco products. If you don’t have a shop, you can refill using other services for example:

  • We get our washing up liquid in a pouch that can be sent back to the company for recycling or reusing
  • We all use Wild deodorant which is a refillable natural option. You can shop here and get 20% off with my code EMMA2025
  • Many companies now offer cleaning solutions in easy refillable, dissolvable pods just like Ocean Saver
  • Brands like Miniml offer a huge range of cleaning products and personal care products which you can either buy in bulk (therefore reducing the number of plastic bottles you use) or in refill pouches
  • As mentioned above, you could switch to a service like Milk&More and have many drinks delivered in bottles as well as plastic free veg boxes and so on

Final Word

I hope these tips will really help with you actively reducing your household waste but if you’d like more suggestions and ideas I do also have a 36 page downloadable pack available to purchase on Etsy for just £4. This is jam-packed with blog excerpts, an audit sheet, easy to follow and read tips, cleaning recipes and tick lists of reusable/eco alternatives for each room. And if you need any more help you can follow me on Facebook or Instagram or browse my other blogs.

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*This post contains affiliate links which means I will earn a small commission if you purchase via them. This does not affect your shopping experience or how much you pay. For more information please refer to my disclosure page.

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