Household waste can be anything from paper waste to electronic waste such as washing machines.

How To Reduce Household Waste

Reducing your household waste is incredibly important to help the planet. Meal planning and cutting down your use of single-use plastic products has become more common. Reducing household waste helps the environment as more products are being recycled and less waste caused.

To reduce household waste:

  1. Switch to Eco-Friendly Dental Products
  2. Sell Unused Items
  3. Reduce Single-Use Plastic
  4. Meal Plan
  5. Grow Your Own Food
  6. Reduce E-Waste

1. Switch to Eco-Friendly Dental Products

Think of your everyday household routines. We brush our teeth every day and the toothbrush eventually gets thrown away, but plastic toothbrushes are not sustainable. Each year, over one million plastic toothbrushes are thrown away, and these end up in landfills and waterways and pollute our planet.

You can change this by switching to eco-friendly dental products. This might include using bamboo toothbrushes and toothpaste tablets. These take a shorter amount of time to decompose and are zero waste.

As bamboo is a natural resource, this means it is sustainable and does not negatively impact the planet. You can even compost your bamboo toothbrush.

Learn more about why you should switch to bamboo toothbrushes & toothpaste tablets here. 

2. Sell Unused Items

Reports show that 350,000 tonnes of wearable clothes go to UK landfills every year, which This equals to £140 million worth of clothing.

The world of online marketplaces has grown. If you have clothes that you no longer wear, or books collecting dust on the shelves, you can sell or donate them.

This can be done on apps such as Depop and eBay. If they are in good or fair condition, this is a great way to make some extra money and declutter. 

By doing this we are being more environmentally conscious of our items and of our household waste.

3. Reduce Single-Use Plastic

Finding alternatives to single-use plastic products has become ever more popular and accessible, and is an easy way to reduce household waste.

For example, using bee wraps instead of plastic wrap, and using a reusable water bottle, are simple ways to reduce single-use plastic waste in your household. You could even look into buying reusable sanitary products, as many non-reusable brands use single-use plastic for their packaging and products. 

This can also mean making conscious decisions when food shopping. By picking food options that come with minimal or no packaging, you can further help to reduce single-use plastics being thrown away.

Single use plastic from household waste can end up in the sea

4. Meal Planning

One way to reduce food waste is to meal prep. Whether this means consciously planning the meals you want to eat that week or if you cook multiple meals in advance, meal planning is a great way to reduce unnecessary food waste as you will be using up exactly what you plan for.

By making a food plan at the start of the week, this can help you organise exactly the items you need to buy and when you should use them, cutting down on food that may be wasted throughout the week.

5. Grow Your Own Food

Following on from step four, growing your own food can help to reduce household waste. This is because this helps you be more aware of what you are buying, eating, and throwing away.

Furthermore, you can reduce food waste by replanting the seeds found in vegetables. This is a cheap and easy way to start growing vegetables and reducing waste. Make sure to use a good soil and to water the plants regularly.

6. E-Waste

Many people overlook the impact of E-Waste.

E-Waste is any electronic waste, including items with plugs, cords, and electronic components. Appropriately recycling your e-waste is important.

A further way to reduce e-waste is by unsubscribing to unimportant promotional emails, to break the chain of energy-burning electronics involved in the sending of emails.

For example, reports have stated that if every British person sent only one less email a day, it would save 16,433 tonnes of carbon a year.

Conclusion

Reducing your household waste is important, and so by taking small steps to change your habits and ultimately help the planet.

Finding eco-friendly solutions and products will help you to cut down on harmful single-use plastics.        


Brush Fresh Co. is founded and run by a group of UK-based dentists, who specialise in environmentally-friendly and sustainable dental products. From biodegradable bamboo toothbrushes to zero waste toothbrush tablets, our product range has been designed to put both your dental health and the environment first. For more information and dental care advice, head over to our blog page or get in contact with us here.

 

Back to blog