Whilst Suffolk Coastal is committed to recycling and composting
as much as possible, it is more environmentally sustainable to
avoid producing the waste in the first place. By reducing and
reusing your waste at source, you can avoid the need to collect and
treat it, thus avoiding the associated costs of transport and
energy.
Easy things you can do...
There are many simple changes that
you can make to your shopping and consumption habits in order
to minimise your waste, such as:
- Take plastic carrier bags back to the supermarket or reuse
them, buy a 'bag for life' or use a cloth bag - every year in
England and Wales we use 7 billion plastic carrier bags!
- Avoid products with lots of unnecessary packaging.
- Buy products you can refill - for example washing-up
liquids.
- Avoid disposable items such as paper plates.
- Choose long life products - they may cost more to buy in the
short term but you will have to replace them less often.
- Use rechargeable products.
- Repair an item where possible.
- Think before buying luxury items - do you really need
them?
- Choose products made from recycled materials - many shops sell
a range of recycled products such as bin liners, toilet rolls, and
writing paper.
- Buy in bulk if possible, which cuts down the amount of rubbish
- buy drinks in large bottles instead of smaller ones, buy washing
powder in large boxes.
- Buy local
products if possible (new window) - they have been
transported shorter distances. Find out if you have a local
farmers' market where you can buy food, which means less petrol has
been used, and less traffic on the road.
-
Choose products that have minimum impact on the
environment (new window) during their life - for
example washing machines with the energy efficiency label, and
energy saving light bulbs. Follow this link for more information
about information about energy efficiency in the
home.
- Buy second-hand items - many charity shops and
auction websites sell good second-hand
clothing.
- Donate your unwanted goods to charity shops, offer them to
family and friends, try offering them
on the freecycle website (new window) or have a
car boot sale.
- Use real nappies instead of disposable ones.
- Take up
home composting, turning your fruit and
vegetable clippings and light garden trimmings into a useful end
product that you can use in your own garden, avoiding the need for
it to be collected and treated centrally.
- Businesses and individuals can use the
Eastex materials exchange, a free online
service that allows you to exchange unwanted materials.
Reduce the amount of junk mail you receive
You can reduce the junk mail that
you receive by registering with the following services:
Mailing Preference Service (MPS) (new
window)
MPS will prevent direct mail, or junk mail, originating within the
UK and addressed to you in your name, from being sent to you:
Mailing Preference Service (MPS),
DMA House,
70 Margaret Street,
London W1W 8SS.
MPS registration line: 0845 703 4599.
Royal Mail Door to Door Opt Out service (new
window)
The Door to Door Opt Out service will prevent unaddressed junk mail
from being delivered to you. If you wish to opt out of receiving
Door to Door mail items, send or email your name and address to the
address below:
Freepost RRBT-ZBXB-TTTS,
Royal Mail Door to Door Opt Outs,
Kingsmead House,
Oxpens Road,
OXFORD OX1 1RX.
or email:
optout@royalmail.com.
Want to know more?
For more information and ideas about minimising your waste visit
the Suffolk Recycling website (new
window).