Hints and tips to help you reduce and reuse your waste
The best way to manage your waste is to produce as little of it as possible.
To reduce waste, we need to reduce our demand for raw materials and increase reuse, repair and recycling.
Reducing and reusing are key to lowering our environmental impact by preventing waste and keeping materials in use for longer.
The waste hierarchy show us options of managing waste from the most preferable to the least. The best options are to avoid producing waste or reduce it as much as possible. This could mean actions like only buying what you need and using what you already have.
In the middle of the hierarchy, we see reuse and recycling. Recycling keeps waste out of landfill and provides much needed materials for manufacturing, but inevitably uses energy and creates emissions, although often far less energy and emissions than producing products from raw materials. However, by keeping items in use for longer, passing them on, repairing them and repurposing them, we keep items out of the waste stream and extend the life of materials without producing significant emissions.
At the bottom of the hierarchy are the least preferred options, these are recovery and disposal. When we have reused and recycled as much as we can, we can recover the energy from what is left. This can mean burning the waste to produce electricity or using the waste to produce gas to drive a turbine to produce energy. Both of these methods produce emissions.
So, what are the different ways that we, as individuals can reduce, reuse and recycle?
Get clever with your clothes...
A great way to start reducing your waste is to shop second hand instead of buying new. Our Charity Shop Guide (PDF, 411 KB)(opens new window) has listings for charity shops throughout West Lothian. Online platforms, like Vinted, Marketplace and Gumtree are great for helping you to find a bargain or pass on what you no longer need.
It can also be fun to organise your own reuse event. A Swish event aims to tackle the problem of fast fashion by swapping pre-loved clothes, helping to keep your wardrobe fresh, but without the environmental impact of buying new and disposing of what you no longer want to wear.
The fashion industry has a big impact on our natural resources. In the UK, around 300,000 tonnes of perfectly good, re-usable clothing is sent to landfill every year and even more sit in the back of a wardrobe.
Many clothing retailers now offer incentives for returning old clothes to them for recycling. You can check out some of them here - Be clever with your cash (opens new window).
If fashion isn't for you, maybe reusing and upcycling furniture is more up your street.
Home Aid is a charitable organisation that exists to recycle used furniture and to support members of the West Lothian community who face social and economic exclusion, but they also run three shops which are open to the general public where you can donate household items or get a great deal on pre-loved furniture. You can also buy from their website (opens new window) and have it delivered.
And if you grab yourself a bargain and it's needing a little attention, check out these upcycling tips (opens new window) from B&Q. There's everything from how to select furniture for upcycling to cleaning, repairing and painting.
Reducing plastic...
It has never been more important to reduce the amount of plastic we throw away. Programmes such as Blue Planet and War on Plastic have highlighted why reducing our use of plastic is so important, but taking the first steps can be daunting.
Refilling is a great way to reduce the number of plastic container you use. Take a look at the Refill Locator (opens new window) to find places near you that you can refill cleaning products and other items.
And don't forget...
If your item is repairable you could take it to a Repair Cafe or other charity repair organisation, many of whom perform repairs for a small donation. Linlithgow Community Development Trust run a Repair Shop (opens new window).
Equipment that has been loaned to you by the Heath and Social Care Partnership can be returned to the Community Equipment Store at St John's Hospital. It can then be used again by others. More information can be found on their website. (opens new window)
