We could all use a little guidance when it comes to household waste. Reducing your household waste is good for the environment and your health. Not to mention that landfills receive over one thousand pounds of household waste daily.
Use this guide to reduce your household waste and be a part of the solution to the global waste problem.
What Is Household Waste Management?
Household waste management refers to the production, collection, and disposal of household waste. Efficient household waste management involves practicing recycling habits, proper disposal of hazardous waste, and efforts to reduce household waste production.
Household waste management can include dumpster rental services for home renovations or if you’re moving households. Ordinary household waste includes:
- Food waste
- Recyclable household materials
- Electronics
- Batteries
- Hard and soft plastics
- Paper products
- Clothing and fabric waste
What Are Ways to Reduce Household Waste?
Landfills are filling up, and incinerators are being used to break down waste. Incinerators emit hazardous toxins into the environment, directly affecting our air quality and contributing to the global climate crisis. Use the following methods to reduce your household waste.
Shop Eco-Friendly with Reusable Bags
Many states like California have put a price tag on single-use plastic and paper bags to discourage their use. This is because they create unnecessary waste and are an accessible item to replace with reusable alternatives.
The next time you go for your weekly grocery haul or shopping spree, bring some reusable bags with you. Many grocery stores have reusable bags for purchase, or you use any bag you have at home. Store your reusable bags in your car to avoid having to grab one more thing as you run out the door.
Ditch Disposables in the Kitchen
The kitchen is the culprit for much of the household waste produced daily. Ditch any single-use kitchen items like:
- Plastic wrap
- Plastic produce bags
- Paper towels
- Single-use cleaning wipes
- Single-use bottles like plastic water bottles
There are some great alternatives to disposables in the kitchen. Reusable food storage like glass containers or reusable produce bags is a great way to avoid those single-use plastics. Food storage wraps even come in reusable forms of beeswax and silicon.
Avoid Plastics
Plastic accounts for an incredible amount of household waste. Whether in the form of single-use water bottles, plastic cutlery, or single-use food storage, disposable plastics create unnecessary waste and aren’t as effective as their reusable alternatives.
An essential step of household waste reduction is refusing to buy or use single-use or hard plastics. Inevitably, most if not all of the non-recyclable plastic used will end up in a landfill.
Go for a glass or aluminum reusable water bottle to replace your plastic water bottle. These reusable water bottles are better for the environment and you!
Choose Paperless Billing
There’s more than one perk to not receiving bills and statements in the mail. Gone are the days of unopened, unnecessary paper statements piling up. Go electronic with your bank statements, credit card statements, and any other recurring items that tend to use snail mail.
Typically banks, utility companies, and the like will have an option you can select for electronic statements only. You can call to update your statements or it could be as easy as going online and clicking a button.
Dispose of E-waste Responsibly
Electronic waste makes up a surprisingly large amount of waste worldwide. Electronics can be challenging to dispose of properly, but it makes a big difference, and we’re here to help clarify.
Often, a city will have its recycling and disposal rules. Go to your city’s website to learn how to properly dispose of and recycle any household waste. Electronics like batteries can be disposed of at big box stores like Target or electronics stores.
Opt for rechargeable batteries and donate any old TVs or game consoles to reduce your electronic waste products instead of throwing them in the garbage.
Recycle Right
As you start to reduce your household waste production, you will still have items to dispose of. To keep your efforts strong when it comes time to toss something out, make sure you know how to recycle correctly.
Recycling will help reduce landfill waste by repurposing used materials into something new. Check your local recycling rules to ensure you’re correctly recycling your used materials.
Donate Items Whenever Possible
Donating your used items not only keeps them out of the landfill but also gives someone else a chance to get joy out of that item. Donate items like gently used clothing, electronics, gently worn shoes, cutlery, dishes, and more.
Contact Tidy Bug Dumpster Rental
Tidy Bug Dumpsters provides quality and convenient dumpster rental in St. Louis, MO. We are committed to recycling any items that qualify and properly disposing of hazardous waste. For dumpster rental services you can count on, call Tidy Bug Dumpsters at 636-278-TIDY (8439).
