How can I reduce my waste?

Recycle more, waste less

Our residents are already great at recycling, but there’s always room for improvement and new ideas.

The first step to increase our recycling is knowing what items go in our yellow recycling bins and green waste bins.

Most residents know what items can be recycled in the kitchen, but what about the other rooms of the houses like the bathroom, bedroom and laundry? What about areas outside the home like school, work and public spaces?

Avoiding waste

We can all help reduce waste by buying only what we need and sharing or reusing items instead of throwing them away.

Avoiding waste not only reduces the amount of waste going into landfill but also saves water, energy and demand on raw materials.

There are many ways that you can reduce or reuse your waste, some ideas include:

Shop smarter

Make a list and stick to it. Almost half of the food we buy in the supermarket never makes it to your plate.

Average households estimate that they spend up to $2000 a year on food they don’t eat.

That’s money that could be spent elsewhere on bills, clothes or that holiday you have been dreaming about.

By planning ahead, making lists and using up all those leftovers we can reduce the food we waste and save money.

Upcycle: create new things with stuff you already have

Upcycling takes something you would normally throw away and turns it into something that is not only useful, but beautiful as well.

With a little creativity anything can be upcycled – buttons, gumboots, forgotten furniture, suitcases, old baby clothes … even an odd shoe!

Hold a garage sale or swap party

Swap parties are a great way to swap those unused Christmas presents, old CDs, books and clothing for something else you want and need.

You can also hold a garage sale and sell your old, unwanted items. This also gives you the chance to make money from unwanted and unused things around the house.

If you don’t want to hold a garage sale at your house, sell those unwanted goods online via auction websites.

Donate your old items

Help people in need by donating old and unused items such as clothing, toys and furniture to organisations such as:

• The Salvation Army
• St Vincent de Paul
• The Smith Family
• Local opportunity shops
• The Big Green Shed