There are several simple yet impactful ways to be eco-friendly. You don’t even need to join an organization just to support this cause. If you think about it, caring for the environment could start from your own home, and it can be something as easy as reducing household waste.
Apart from making sure that all your household waste is disposed of properly as mentioned on this website, it’s more important that you know how you effectively help in lessening them.
Eco-Friendly Ways To Reduce Household Waste
Household waste can accumulate quickly especially if you’re not conscious about how to control them from piling up. It’s one of those decisions that you make in your everyday life and could impact the planet in many ways. But it’s not yet too late to contribute and make changes that could help in protecting and saving the planet.
Here are some eco-friendly ways that you can try to help minimize household waste:
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Reduce Food Waste
Food waste might just be the largest portion that makes up household waste. While your household can’t help but produce food waste, you can still do something to lessen it. Before throwing away food in the bin, ask yourself first if it’s no longer consumable. Plan your daily meals accordingly to prevent any waste.
Take note of expiry dates of canned goods, frozen food, and everything that’s in your cupboard. Consume them before getting past their expiry so you don’t have to throw them away. When dealing with your groceries and storing them in your fridge, make sure to practice First in First Out or FIFO. It essentially means that you need to consume your oldest purchases first. Do this to prevent spoilage or getting discouraged eating food that has stayed in your fridge for a long time.
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Use Reusable Shopping Bags
Say goodbye to plastics (and even paper) by using reusable shopping bags. That way, you won’t have to bring home non-recyclable bags that will most likely end up in your garbage can as soon as you’ve transferred all the grocery items that you bought.
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Go Paperless
In every household garbage can, you’ll surely find plenty of crumpled paper from bills, notes, and lists from different sources, including yourself. Why not consider going paperless instead to minimize paper waste at home? You can start by reaching out to your utility and credit card companies to start forwarding all bills and correspondences via email.
This approach is even more efficient if you think about it because then there’s no chance of losing anything or missing the payment date due to your busy schedule. You can now conveniently check your bills via email and pay for them online. As for other paper waste at home, encourage your kids (if you have any) to be more responsible in keeping their notes and books. Consider donating old books first before throwing them away.
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Say Goodbye To Disposables
While disposable plates and utensils may be convenient whenever you have parties or events at home, they can impact the environment in ways that you can’t imagine. So, as much as possible, opt for washable tableware to minimize disposables in the kitchen. This also includes paper towels, tin foil, and plastic zip bags that are mostly used only once and then disposed of afterward.
When cleaning kitchen tiles or other parts of your home, make use of washable microfiber cloths instead of swiping piles of paper towels. For your kids, you may start using reusable containers for their lunches at school to reduce plastic waste. You can also begin buying refillable and reusable bathroom products for your plastic-free and eco friendly bathroom.
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Donate When Possible
Instead of throwing away household waste such as old furniture, consider giving them away first. You can ask your friends or family if they’ll be interested in your old items, may it be an old couch, used clothes, or even a junk car. If there are nearby donation centers or charity organizations in your area, you could also bring your stuff there and make good use of it.
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Recycle And Reuse When You Can
You can also reduce the amount of waste in your household by recycling and reusing items when you can. Old clothes may be turned into kitchen cloths, while plastic containers may be used as plant pots for your garden. Or perhaps your dining chairs just need a good cleaning and reupholstering so they can look good again.
There are so many ways in which you can avoid buying new household items and throwing old stuff out by thinking of creative ways to recycle and reuse them.
Conclusion
There’s no effort too small when it comes to helping the environment. A simple act today can make a great impact tomorrow. Take some time to think of different eco-friendly ways to reduce household waste so that there can still be a greener and better future for the generations to come.
