Waste Free - Managing Waste at Home

Grey bin overflowing?

Here are our top tips to keep your waste in check - 

• Are you recycling everything you can?

There's loads of packaging that can go in your blue and green bins, saving space in your grey bin for the things that can't. Check our info if you have only a blue bin or if you have a blue and green bin to see what can be recycled.

And remember the brown bin takes food and garden waste and is collected fortnightly. Just remember to put food waste in the bin loose or in a compostable bag.

• Know your collection days

There's nothing worse than having a full bin and finding out you've missed the collection and have to wait two weeks for the next one! You can check your collection days, sign up to email reminders, download a pdf calendar or download dates straight to the calendar on your phone.

• Maximise space

Ramming three black bin bags into your grey bin can cause them to get stuck and even an extra 'dunt' on the bin lorry won't release the vacuum holding the last one in. This leaves you with a half full bin to deal with for the next two weeks. Using smaller bags in your household bins gets round this (think carrier bag sized). You'll probably get more in your wheelie bin overall and they won't get stuck.

Waste that can wait?

Please keep electrical items out of any of your bins at home, they take up lots of space in your bin and can be fully recycled, so hang onto them and take them to the recycling centres! Please don't put batteries in any of your bins, they can cause fires when compacted in bin lorries and at recycling centres (opens new window) and that's the last thing anyone needs! Most supermarkets have collection points for used batteries, so you could drop them off when you go for your weekly shop.

 

 

Noticed an item of clothing has a hole in? Can you repair it instead of throwing it out? Have a look online for video guides on how to repair clothes Love Your Clothes (opens new window) is a great place to start, and you might learn a new skill! If that's not for you please take them to donation points or cut up old fabrics to reuse as cleaning cloths.

 

 

Get creative with things you would usually throw out. Try and look at waste differently and imagining what you could make it into. If nothing else, it might keep the kids busy for an hour! Check out our Recycling Activities to Try at Home.  for some fun ideas.

 

Time for a bit of gardening?

If you are one of those keen gardeners who needs to make extra trips to the recycling centre with garden waste, things may start to get a bit tricky as we get into the growing season.

Home compost bin - if you have a compost bin and can compost your grass cuttings, hedge trimmings and vegetable peelings please do so.

Compost heap - if you don't have a compost bin, you can set aside an area on the garden as a compost heap. This can be cordoned off with pallets or chicken wire or just a space in an unused corner.

Check out our home composting page for the basics or see the top ten tips on composting from the Eden Project (opens new window)

Food for thought

At times like these we all need to make sure we aren't wasting any food. So buy only what you need, store it correctly and use up your leftovers. For more ideas check out our Waste Can Wait - food waste page and Love Food Hate Waste (opens new window) for more tips and recipes.