Reducing waste

Much of the energy needed to make the things you use gets wasted when we throw them away.

Disposing of our waste requires yet more energy.

As Scotland works to become one of the world’s only Zero Waste nations, we’ve teamed up with Zero Waste Scotland to show a few of the easy ways you can cut household waste and make more of the things you buy:

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
You can save yourself money by preventing waste in the first place.

If you can't avoid waste, you can reuse or pass on items for others to reuse and recycle glass, plastic and other materials to give them a new life.

Reused and recycled products
You can reuse and recycle items and materials by choosing products that are second hand, made from recycled materials or contain reused parts.

To find reused and recycled products, visit Zero Waste Scotland's Sort It website.

Food Waste
The average Scottish household throws away £430 of wasted food every year. Get into the habit of using up leftovers to make the most of the food you buy. Less food in the bin means more money in your pocket.

For great recipe ideas and other tips on how to avoid food waste, visit the Love food Hate Waste website

Packaging
Choose products with less packaging, buy concentrates and use refillable products to reduce the amount of packaging waste you produce.

For more advice on how you can reduce, reuse and recycle packaging, visit the Positive Package website

Stop the drop
Hate unwanted mail? Register with the Mail Preference Service and have your name removed from the direct mail lists.

Visit the Stop the Drop website for some handy hints on how to reduce unwanted mail.

Home composting
Over 30% of an average household bin can be composted at home. Using a container or kitchen caddy will save you making a trip to the compost bin every day.

The Scottish Composting at Home campaign has diverted over 84,000 tonnes of waste from landfill, and over 200,000 compost bins have been distributed.

Home composting is also an easy way to make your garden more beautiful and save money on bought-in compost.

For more information on home composting visit the Zero Waste Scotland website.

Charity shops
Charity shops are a treasure trove of quality household goods and clothes. By reusing items in this way you can help to look after the environment and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. To find your nearest charity shop visit Sort It website.

Real nappies
Modern real nappies are very practical and offer an alternative to disposable nappies. To find out what real nappies are, how they are used and what the benefits are, visit The Real Nappy Campaign website.

Furniture reuse
Furniture reuse projects provide furniture and household appliances to people who would not otherwise be able to purchase these much needed household items.

Some local authorities are able to recycle or arrange for the reuse of some of the items collected via their bulky items uplift service. You may also be able to donate your unwanted items to community groups in your area.

To find out about bulky collection services and reuse projects in your area visit Sort It website.

Carrier bags
Reuse carrier bags or use a canvas bag when you do a food shop. Many supermarkets offer some sort of financial reward for this.

Find out more about reusing, reducing and recycling carrier bags at wasteawarescotland.org.uk/bags.

Recycling
Households in Scotland are now recycling and composting over 34% of all household waste which is a fantastic achievement! However, there is still more to do. Scotland has new challenging recycling targets; we need to recycle and compost 40% of all household waste by 2010 and 50% by 2013.

Recycling is a way of life now, but don’t forget to recycle the waste from all the rooms in your house, not just the kitchen.

To find out about recycling facilities in your area visit the Sort It website.