Five tips to cut your waste

© timtak (Flickr) Recycling 7
© timtak (Flickr)

Use reusable
Every year, hundreds of millions of spent batteries find their way into landfill where they can leach toxic chemicals into the ground. There is a simple solution: use rechargeable batteries. It’s not just batteries that can get the reusable treatment: plastic boxes can replace cling film for leftover food and a camping flask means cutting back on buying disposable bottles of water.

Ditch the bags
For the eco-conscious shopper, cotton totes are the perfect alternative to plastic carrier bags. However, it isn’t just high street carrier bags that cause a problem. Think of all the little bags you pick up on the way round the supermarket. Do you really need a plastic hold-all to keep your three apples under control?

Pass it on
It’s an age old adage that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.

Before you ditch an old gadget, book or household nicknack, have a think who else would like it. Websites such as Freecycle or Freegle allow you to give your goods away.

Go on a diet
Have you ever checked how much food you throw away every week? Save yourself money and lighten your landfill load by planning your weekly meals and shopping for food accordingly. There are plenty of online meal planning tools, or do it the old fashioned way with a pen and paper.

Just say no to packaging
Package heavy products lead to package heavy bin bags. Where possible and when out shopping choose items that aren’t wrapped in several layers of rock hard plastic or encased in polystyrene beads. More often than not, your banana doesn’t need to be protected by any kind of packaging, it comes with its own natural wrapper.