Reduce, reuse and recycle
A great place to start living more sustainably is to think about how you and your family can reduce, reuse and recycle.
Reduce
- Buy reusable rather than disposable products
- Choose products with less packaging
- Buy from bulk bins and choose concentrated products
- Buy only what you need, to reduce spoilage
- Take your own bags to the supermarket
- Buy products in reusable, refillable or recyclable containers
- Buy well-made appliances and goods, and keep them in good condition
Reuse
Before you throw anything away, think whether any part of it could be reused and given another life. Jars, tins and plastic containers are great for storage. Friends and community groups may be able to use that garment or furniture you have replaced. At Silverstream Landfill you can drop off reusable items for Earthlink Inc. to repair and refurbish for sale at their WasteSmart shop.
Recycle
Keep plastic, cans, glass and paper out of your rubbish - put them in your recycling bin. You'll save on the cost of rubbish bags and materials can be used for making new products.
Buy recycled products where possible as this supports the collection of recyclables. Manufacturing products from recycled materials saves our natural resources, creates less pollution and saves energy.
Composting
Composting is a great way of reusing your kitchen scraps and garden rubbish. It’s easy and fantastic for your garden.
Here’s everything you need to get started
Worm farms
You can easily make a thriving worm farm, year-round, indoors or out. It doesn’t take much space to build a worm farm that composts your kitchen waste, and it makes great fertiliser!
Find out how to build your own worm farm
Education programmes for schools
We run two programmes for schools:
Enviroschools - gives young people the opportunity to explore real life challenges in sustainability and to apply their ideas.
Word on Waste school tour - this full day fieldtrip to Allbrite Industries Ltd, Silverstream Landfill and Earthlink Inc offers a hands-on look at how we can recycle, reuse or compost up to 75% of our rubbish, along with a range of fun recycling activities.
If your school would like to participate in either of these programmes, get in touch with us.