Waste Reduction

Although we are not able to stop producing rubbish completely we can do a lot to reduce its impact on our environment and try to create less rubbish in the first place.

In West Berkshire we are very good at recycling but we can all help to reduce the amount of waste we produce by following simple steps.

Reduce

• Avoid over packaged goods
• Use old t-shirts or sheets as rags or polishing cloths
• Keep equipment and tools well serviced to give them longer life and repair what you can rather than throwing it away
• Buy long lasting products that are energy efficient or reusable
• Buy concentrated products and refills
• Compost at home
• Use the mail preference service to remove your name from mailing lists and stop junk mail.

Reuse

• Use a reusable shopping bag or re-use shopping carrier bags
• Try to buy products in reusable packing - sweet twins for cakes or glass jars for storage
• Repair clothes and other goods rather than throwing them away
• Use the backs of paper to make rough notes, shopping lists or for children's drawings
• Donate items in good condition to the Community Furniture Project

Recycle

• Use your kerbside recycling scheme or mini recycling centres
• Take additional materials for recycling to your local HWRC

► Compost at Home

Composting at home is a great way to transform your food and garden waste into a useful source of food for your garden.

► Real Nappies

Britain throws away nearly 3 billion nappies a year. Disposable nappies are not just wasteful and costly for parents, but dealing with nappy waste costs local authorities thousands of pounds a year. Disposable nappies make up 6% of domestic waste going to landfill in West Berkshire and nearly 8 million nappies are thrown away each day in the UK.

► Love Food Hate Waste

Every year 8.3 million tonnes of food is thrown away by households in the UK, costing the average family £50 a month. The food we throw away is not only a waste of resources and money but will more than likely end up in a landfill site, where it will rot and release methane, a powerful green house gas. If we stop wasting food which could have been eaten, it will have the same impact on carbon emissions as taking 1 in 4 cars off the road.