If you want to live a more responsible lifestyle and reduce your impact on the planet, you need to think about waste. Using resources more efficiently is so important if we want to create a long term, sustainable solution that will preserve the environment. Unfortunately, we are all used to using things without really thinking about the impact, so we are all guilty of waste. If you want to make changes and start being less wasteful, the best place to start is at home. These are some of the biggest sources of waste in the home and how you can deal with them.
Food Waste
Food waste is such a huge problem but most people don’t realise the scale of it. The average household wastes around £540 worth of perfectly good food and drink every year. That’s about 13 percent of what we buy, which is a huge number. There are a few different reasons that people waste so much food, but the main one is simply buying too much. People buy more than they need and then things go off before they get used and end up being thrown out. Making portions that are too large is another problem as well because half of it doesn’t get eaten and goes in the bin. But if you do a few smaller shops and plan out your meals so you are only buying the ingredients that you actually need, you can cut back on your food waste. You should also download an app called Olio, which allows you to share food that you are not going to eat and somebody can collect it. You can also find things that you need on there as well, so instead of buying it from the shop, you can use surplus and stop waste.
Water Waste
We talk a lot about cutting back on energy bills, but not quite so much about water. But the water supply is under threat and there have been warnings about potential droughts in the next few decades, so it’s a very important environmental issue. The problem is, we treat water like it’s an endless supply and don’t really think about how much we are using. If you want to cut back, the best thing you can do is get a rainwater tank from a company like National Poly Industries and install it in your garden. You’ll collect a lot of rain over the winter and you can recycle it and use it in the garden or for cleaning the car. If you want to use it for things like washing or drinking, you’ll need to get a purification system.
Plastic Waste
There is a big conversation around plastic waste right now and people are more aware of what they use, but it’s so hard to cut back. The best way is to find a zero waste shop that doesn’t use plastic packaging and buy your food from there, but if that isn’t an option, just shop around and be more selective so you can get things without plastic packaging. It’s not just about the kitchen either, you need to think about plastic waste in the bathroom too. Try to be more conscious of anything that you buy and always see if there is a plastic free alternative.
Reducing waste in the home is one of the best ways to live a more responsible lifestyle, so make sure that you are always thinking about it.
