We produce waste and lots of it. On average each Australian produces 1.5 tonnes of rubbish a year, which second highest in the world. There are some government programs that aim to recycle and lower our waste, but not enough. This means if you want to minimise your environmental impact, you have to take matters into your own hands.
There are many ways that you can achieve this from small things you can do at home to hiring rubbish removal companies. Numerous of these ways are in regards to your actions and lifestyle; however there are many ways you can help simple though how you dispose of your rubbish.
Here are 5 tips on how to improve your rubbish disposal methods.
1. Compost
Food products makes up 40% of the waste put into landfills every year in Australia. Food products in landfills also are the largest producer of methane, the seriously environmentally destructive gas 25 times worse than carbon monoxide. Compost bins are therefore an amazing solution to this problem and they are the only way to reuse food products. Composts bin are cheap, self-sustained and result in free fertiliser. They are great addition to your backyard and if you live in an apartment it’s worth asking the building manager if you can get one for the lot.
2. Furniture
Getting rid of furniture is often quite difficult, while selling it on the internet or giving it away is our first suggestion, professional rubbish removal is our second. Australia’s council pick-ups, take most the stuff they pick-up to a landfill, whether it is recyclable or not (depending on council). While they do put some measures in place to make sure that they reuse it, it’s a pretty cavalier effort due to the fact most furniture is multiple types of materials. On the other hand there are many Sydney rubbish removal companies that will spend extra time and effort separating the various materials of the furniture. This is to ensure everything recyclable can be recycled. So the correct rubbish removal specialists are worth hiring for furniture that is recyclable.
3. Special Disposal
There are certain products in the home that need to be properly disposed of, detergents, batteries, plastic bags, electronics, light bulbs and other all have specific methods of disposal that should be undertaken. Often we throw these in the regular trash or even down the sink, but for most of these this can be damaging to the reusability of the rubbish and have dire environmental impacts. While it is more time consuming, tedious and laborious investigating the proper techniques and avenues to get rid of these products is a significant step you can take to more effectively getting rid of your rubbish.
4. Construction site leftovers
Construction sites are also littered with random debris. It’s an entanglement of concrete, metals, pipes, wiring and a bunch of other things some of which you’re not sure how it got there. If you do get rid of the material yourself it’s likely going to be in the form of taking it to the tip. This is when rubbish removal companies are highly effect. Most rubbish removal specialists will take construction material back to processing centres to sort through; organising the material into what can be reused and remade. However not all companies that remove skip bins and construction material are as scrupulous, so it is important to pick the right one.
5. Repurposing
While this isn’t explicitly disposal, finding alternate uses for items is a great means of recycling. Lots of things can be re-used and deserve a second life in your home, glass jars, toothbrushes, newspaper and almost anything can be galvanised after it’s seemingly finished. The Internet is an ingenious place and so many smart people out there are using creative and fascinating ways to turn their everyday household items into… well lots of different things. If you have items that you think can be reused, hit up the internet first to see if they have any suggestions.
If you truly want to make a big difference, changing the products you use, the way you consume, transport methods and a general shift in lifestyle are all things that need to be undertaken. However changing the way you dispose of waste is one of the most impactful and effective ways to lessen your impact.
