As times have been changing rapidly, we have most likely been spending an increased amount of time at home. . . Working from home, kids off school at home, no more eating out – with this comes many challenges among this more waste being produced at home!
As waste and recycling are essential services we will always have access to them but ideally you don’t want to be sending more to landfill or over work the recycling system any more.
Here are six simple tips to help you reduce your waste at home:
1. Utilise food waste collections. Food waste can be a big one and with everyone home more often, this will only increase further – ensure you are familiar with and are using your Council Green / Food waste collections if offered in your area. You may be using more paper towel than usual at this time also, this is likely to be included in the acceptable items for food waste collections – check this out with your Council.
2. Use a compost bin. Even better than utilising your Council food waste collections would be using a compost bin or similar at home. This way you can close the loop and your garden can reap the rewards further down the track. If you don’t have one set up, Bunnings and stores like that are still open at this stage, perhaps just with a change of hours. Click here to find out about different composting options.
3. Freeze leftovers. Ensure you freeze any leftovers you have from dinners, eliminate any possible food waste and save yourself a night of cooking!
4. Printing tips with kids. If you have young children at home, you may be printing out activity sheets to keep them occupied. When printing, try to fit as much to the page as possible (i.e. 2 activities per page) and double sided if possible, or use the reverse side as scrap paper.
When you have finished use this paper to make paper aeroplanes or origami before recycling it.
5. Home office printing tips. Set up two screens if you have them, this often eliminates the need to print. Think before you print “do I really need to print this”.
6. Drinking tips. Drink tap water (if you are not already!), if you are buying bottles of fizzy drink or soda water invest in a soda stream to make carbonated drinks. This will greatly cut down on the amount of plastic bottles.
Need help getting into the swing of things while working from home? Click here for some tips on getting your perfect WFH office set up.