Know Your Waste

Waste is hard to avoid completely, however the choices we make can reduce the amount of waste we produce and make a big difference.

Knowing how much you throw away is a great motivator for action to reduce waste. The easiest way to check this is to do a waste audit at home.

Step 1: Organise your waste audit

Choose how long you want your waste audit to last and make a note in your calendar – it might be a week, a fortnight, or even a month. Audits can be done daily or weekly depending on your preference.

Use containers to divide your waste into four categories – food scraps, soft plastics, recycling and other waste. Alternatively, you can do a visual inspection if you don’t want to touch your waste.

Step 3 - Record your findings

Make a note of the type and amount of waste in each category each time you do an audit to compare against improvements in the future. You may also like to take photos to document your progress.

Look at what waste types you produce the most of and identify where you can make changes. Write these target areas down in order to make an action plan.

Step 5: Brainstorm solutions

Are there alternative products you could be using to reduce the amount of waste you throw out, such as items without excessive packaging, or reusable items like water bottles, coffee cups and beeswax wraps?

Can you think of ways to reuse your waste, such as turning your food scraps into new meals, composting, or taking your soft plastics to your local supermarket to be recycled?

Write your ideas down and make a commitment to incorporate these changes into your life.