When it comes to sustainable living, Sydney is leading the way in Australia with many people doing all they can to reduce their household waste.
If you are not yet on board with this trend and want to reduce your carbon footprint, here are 15 tips to help you do so.
Reject single use plastic
There is no denying that single use plastics have a severe impact on the environment and our natural world. Every year, humans generate over 350 million metric tons of plastic waste, with most of it ending up in landfill.
From there, it washes into our waterways, rivers, and oceans, polluting their habitats and bringing increased risk of injury or fatality to the native marine life.
Unfortunately, plastics take hundreds or even thousands of years to degrade, and most don’t biodegrade completely. Instead, they break down into tiny pieces called microplastics. These microplastics are so tiny that they can easily pollute the environment and even human blood and organs. So, really it is worth taking steps to contribute to a cleaner environment and reduce one’s usage of single-use plastics.
Invest in reusable products
One of the best ways to reduce your use of plastic products is to invest in reusable products that can be used again and again. This can incorporate everything from stainless steel straws and cutlery to cloth bags and containers made from bamboo.
Making a simple change like this will significantly reduce the levels of rubbish you throw out over the course of the year, which in turn will result in there being less items being put into landfill.
Compost Leftover Food
Did you know that approximately 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted every year?
Instead of this food being thrown into the bin and therefore ending up dumped in landfills, you should make a conscious effort to compost it instead.
Composting food and other organic waste has numerous environmental benefits, such as enhancing soil health, recycling nutrients, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from methane. It can also lessen the impact of droughts, which is very important in a heatwave-prone country like Australia.
Plan your meals
There is nothing worse than finding a mouldy, half-used onion or rancid bit of chicken in the back of the fridge. So, a good way to reduce your food waste is to plan your meals carefully. Not only can this save money in your weekly grocery shop, but it will also reduce wastage by ensuring that you use everything you buy.
It is a good idea to try and find recipes that use similar ingredients – you’ll find lots of videos on YouTube – and cook meals in bulk so you can freeze them for later, on a day when you don’t feel like cooking. Doing this in advance can also save you valuable time during the working week.
Bulk Buy
When it comes to the act of buying food, a good way to reduce the amount of packaging you accrue is to buy products in bulk that you can store in jars or containers at home.
Bulk whole food stores across Australia sell a range of loose items, including flour, rice, beans, superfoods, nuts, herbs and spices and dried food. The great thing about these shops is that they allow you to buy the specific amount you need. So, if you only need to buy 100 grams of something, you can do that without being forced to purchase an entire 1kg bag of it just because that is the format they might come in at the supermarket.
Buying in this way gives you better control over your purchasing decisions. It can also help you reduce wastage and save money.
Buy Your fruit and veg at markets
As well as the bulk foods store, it is a good idea to shop at farmer’s markets. Their products tend not to be wrapped in plastic packaging and can often be bought loose (just make sure you take a trolley or cloth bags with you to take your purchases home).
Produce from farmer’s markets tend to be fresher, tastier, more sustainable, and more nutritious. In addition, buying from them also supports local farmers and helps cycle your money back into your local economy.
Go digital with your documents
According to various reports, anywhere between 3-4 billion trees are cut down around the world every year for paper. Yet, in this age of advancing technology, the need for many paper uses is questionable.
One thing you can do, at least on a personal level, is to cut down on how much paper you consume. For instance, signing up for e-bills and e-statements from your bank or utilities provider will significantly save on paper and ink. (You can save them to the cloud for convenient access).
Additionally, you can also reduce your environmental impact by reading online – as opposed to buying newspapers, magazines and books -, removing yourself from junk emails and making notes, such as shopping lists, on a device.
Businesses, too, can go a long way towards reducing the amount of paper they use by making a conscious effort to go paperless.
Use Tea Leaves
You might not be aware of this, but most tea bags contain traces of microplastics that are harmful to both your health and the environment.
Often they are treated with a compound called epichlorohydrin – also present in pesticides – which is known to cause cancer in animals. Disconcertingly, when they come in contact with water they become active.
Try to avoid tea bags that are noticeably white, as there is a good chance they have been bleached with chlorine. Alternatively, switch to loose-leaf tea, which is infinitely better for you. They tend to come with less packaging too.
Make cleaning solutions for your home
Many conventional cleaning products contain harmful chemicals and endocrine disruptors that can seep into our sewage systems, waterways, and bodies.
While there are some safer brands available, you can further reduce this risk by making eco-friendly cleaning products at home. You’ll be amazed at how clean your toilets, showers, countertops and floors will be if you mix baking soda with lemon juice and vinegar. They will look brand new!
Doing this is also a terrific and cost-effective way of getting rid of mould as well.
Use soap bars instead of bottles
If you use liquid soap, shampoo or conditioner that comes in plastic bottles, you should consider switching to bars instead.
For a start, they are more cost-effective and last longer. But also, they contain more toxicities like chemicals and additives which can be bad for you or your skin. In addition, the bottles that they come in, more often than not, can’t be recycled, so they end up in landfill.
Buy sustainably made clothes
Every year, the average Australian chucks out 10 kg of clothing. As a nation, that translates to over 200,000 tonnes – most of which ends up in landfills.
To combat this, you should recycle, sell, swap or donate to charity any items you don’t want.
At the same time, try to resist purchasing fast fashion items. Instead, buy good quality, versatile and timeless pieces you can keep for many years. Also, make sure they are sustainably made and consider purchasing from charity or second-hand thrift shops, as you can often pick up some real gems there at bargain prices.
Repurpose your old clothes
While it is good to sell, recycle or donate clothes that are still in good nick, there are some items that are on their last legs. However, instead of chucking them out, why not repurpose them instead?
You can make anything from tea towels and handbags to upholstered furniture and pot plant covers, all of which can add unique touches to your home and save items from going to landfill.
Moreover, if you demonstrate a flair for it, you could even start up a business out of it!
Manage menstruation in a green way
According to the Huffington Post, the average woman uses between 9000-10,000 tampons and plastic applicators in their lifetime. They also have over 450 periods.
For this reason, it might be a good idea to try menstrual cups, period underwear, and reusable cotton pads, as an alternative.
Using these alternatives can help to reduce the number of tampons and plastic applicators that end up in landfill waste. It can also save them a lot of money that could be invested or spent on other things.
Recycle your Spare Tire
Many landfills do not accept tires as waste, but there are retailers who specialise in tire recycling that will take them off your hands or recycle them (sometimes for a fee).
However, if you can’t find anyone to do that and have the space, why not get creative and repurpose them into useful items such as tire swings and plant or dog beds?
Remove your rubbish responsibly
As the average Australian produces around 540kg of household waste, per person every year, perhaps the biggest thing we can do is to dispose of it as responsibly as possible.
There are plenty of companies offering eco-friendly rubbish removal in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the rest of the country, that will help you to store and get rid of household, construction and commercial waste.
Some even help you with clean ups for end of lease, backyards and those who have been hoarding for years, to ensure that what is thrown out gets disposed of in the most appropriate way.
One Last Thing
As you can see, there are plenty of things you can do to reduce the amount of waste you produce every day, week and year.
While the strategies outlined above might make a minimal impact on the environment on a personal level, if everyone adopted them, it’s amazing the difference we’ll be able to make in making the planet sustainable.
So, let’s start a movement!
Photo by Vlada Karpovich: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-person-holding-pen-4668363/
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