Here are some ideas to help you and your family reduce the amount of waste that you produce at home:
- Make more foods at home instead of buying takeaway or convenience foods.
- Make gifts or cards for family and friends, instead of buying them.
- Grow your own vegetables and flowers.
- Buy second-hand books instead of new ones
- Repair clothes, toys, and appliances rather than replacing them with new ones.
- Hire, share and borrow things, rather than buying new ones, where possible.
- Shop more carefully:
- use a shopping list – only buy the things you really need
- avoid goods that have too much packaging
- don’t buy too many disposable products, such as tissues and nappies
- buy products that are strong, and will last you a long time
- take your own shopping bags to the supermarket
Projects For Kids
- Put a clear plastic bag in your garbage bin at home, so you can see what types of waste your family throws out. Over a week, note down the most common types of waste produced in your house.
- If we don’t reduce our waste, soon we will start running out of places to put it! Write a story about having to live in a “World of Garbage”.
- Do you think the amount and types of waste we produce today is different to that produced fifty years ago, or even a hundred years ago? Write down some differences you might expect.