How do I reduce household waste?

Waste reduction advice often starts with packaging, but food is typically the largest component of household bin weight and the one with most avoidable cost attached. Working in order of volume rather than visibility gets more result for less effort.

What you'll need

• Food waste caddy (optional)
• Reusable containers (optional)
• Local recycling list (optional)

Step by step

1. Look in the bin for a week and note what is actually in it.It is unpleasant and it is the only way to target the right things. Most people are surprised by the proportion of food.
2. Tackle food waste first through meal planning and correct storage.It is usually the largest category by weight and it is money thrown away as well as material.
3. Use the freezer as a pause button.Bread, milk, cheese, cooked meals and herbs all freeze. Freezing something on the day you realise you will not use it prevents almost all avoidable food waste.
4. Switch repeat purchases to refills and concentrates.Cleaning products, hand soap and laundry products are frequently available as refills or concentrated tablets that use a fraction of the packaging.
5. Check exactly what your council collects.It varies significantly by area, and putting the wrong thing in can contaminate a whole load. Check the current local list rather than assuming.
6. Use soft plastic collection points at supermarkets.Films and wrappers are collected at many supermarkets even where kerbside collection does not take them.
7. Repair or pass on rather than binning.Local giveaway groups clear usable items quickly. Repair cafés exist in many areas for small electricals and textiles.
8. Compost food scraps and garden waste if you have space.It removes a substantial volume from the bin and produces something useful. See the composting guide.

Tips

• Reducing food waste has a larger environmental effect than reducing food packaging, and it saves money directly.
• 'Wishcycling' — putting doubtful items in recycling hoping they are accepted — can cause whole loads to be rejected. Check rather than guess.
• A one-in-one-out rule on bulky items prevents the accumulation that eventually becomes a large disposal problem.

Common mistakes

• Starting with packaging rather than food — Food is usually the largest category by weight and the one with direct financial cost attached.
• Wishcycling — Contamination can cause an entire collection to be rejected, which is worse than binning the item correctly.
• Buying reusables to replace things you already own — The manufacturing footprint of the replacement usually exceeds the benefit. Use what you have until it wears out.

Questions people ask