Have you decided to reduce the amount of trash you generate at home? Achieving a zero-waste lifestyle may seem impossible to achieve, so it’s important to start with baby steps.
Our busy lifestyles don’t leave much time to focus on anything but using stuff that is convenient and disposable. We may wish to reduce our carbon footprint and live in a more sustainable way, so here are some easy-to-follow tips to help you. Even the effort of a single person can make a difference.
Achieving a zero-waste lifestyle by eliminating all waste from your home, including all plastic, rubbish and packaging may leave you wondering how this could even be possible.
But any change begins with small steps. Any way of reducing the amount of waste generated in your home is the beginning of changing your lifestyle.
The familiar three R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) of waste management have helped raise our awareness as to how we can curb our household and personal waste. Bea Johnson in her book ‘Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying Your Life by Reducing Your Waste’ is encouraging us to add two more ‘R’s’ to these – ‘Refuse’ and ‘Rot’.
Refuse
The first of these is ‘refuse’ or ‘say no’. By refusing or saying no to stuff that you don’t really need, you are already stopping these items from becoming instant waste as they are not entering your world.
Items such as single use plastic bags, disposable hot drink cups, polystyrene containers for takeout, plastic utensils and drinking straws, can all be refused and replaced with reusable items.
Each small step you take will assist with achieving a sustainable way of life.
Reduce
Before we buy or acquire anything new we need to ask if we really need that item when we become serious about reducing the amount of waste we generate. Here are some simple ways we can reduce our energy footprint and also keep our waste under control. These do not require too much effort and will help us lead a sustainable lifestyle.
Buy refills of cleaning products and personal toiletries where possible to reduce household plastic and packaging waste.
Save energy consumption and waste from packaging materials by using streaming devices to watch movies and listen to music rather than using the traditional methods.
The latest appliances use state-of-the art energy-efficient technology that reduces energy consumption so invest in these when you invest in replacements. Junk Removal Mechanicsburg offers an appliance removal service to households whereby we dispose of your unwanted appliances in a responsible manner without putting our environment at risk. We provide waste removal in Mechanicsburg. Reduce your personal footprint by something as simple as switching from liquid soaps and gels in plastic bottles, to soap bars. The global cosmetic industry generates more than 120bn units of plastic packaging annually. Unfortunately, most of this is non-recyclable, so every little bit we do can help to reduce global pollution.
Reuse
Using items that can be reused can start simply by replacing the disposable cup your daily takeout coffee is served in, with a reusable coffee cup. Reusable bags when you go grocery shopping can replace single use plastic bags.
When building, remember you can reuse old doors, windows, and cabinets from your local builders’ junkyard. These will give your build instant character. Consider buying antique furniture instead of new furniture, which is a great way to add style to your home décor.
Replace disposable items such as paper serviettes, paper plates, and plastic straws in your home with reusable alternatives.
Cloth or reusable diapers for your baby instead of disposable diapers is an eco-friendly alternative which will help keep what adds up to mountains of them that find their way into the landfills.
When you need to replace your old furniture or appliances why not sell or donate your used stuff so it can be reused somewhere else. Junk Removal Mechanicsburg offers furniture removal services to help you with disposing of your old waste responsibly, without it landing up in a landfill.
Junk Removal Mechanicsburg offers home cleanout services and estate cleanout services when you need help with cleaning out your own household or that of a relative. If you donate these to charity or a thrift shop you can be sure that your unwanted goods will be reused by someone who needs them.
Recycle
Recycling is the big ‘R’ that we are all aware of, and most of us practice recycling encouraging our families to do so as well. Unfortunately, recycling programs have been severely interrupted during the COVID-19 due to the implementation of lockdown regulations and social distancing. Some of the ways that the programs have been disrupted include the ban on reusable bags at stores and the return to using single-use plastic bags. Recycling centers have been closed during the pandemic and trash has been building up in our neighborhoods. Hopefully as these lockdown restrictions are relaxed, recycling will begin again. It is important to explore other ways to lessen the demand for plastic by changing the way we look at packaging and other applications.
Rot
Rot or composting changes household waste into compost and saves the trash from being disposed of into the environment. Any kitchen scraps or yard waste can be used to start a composting station.
Set up a worm farm to deal with your kitchen waste by turning it into excellent compost. Vermicomposting is a great way to encourage your herb and vegetable garden to flourish. Composting is a must if you are concerned about your environment as it will greatly reduce the amount of garbage removal companies need to remove from your home.
Following the 5 R’s of home waste management even loosely, will make it easier for you to lead a sustainable lifestyle and leave a cleaner and greener world for future generations to come. By breaking these steps down, it hopefully makes it easier to get near the goal of a zero-waste home.
Junk Removal Mechanicsburg wants to help you achieve these goals. We will help you with your waste removal and management and we offer residential junk and waster removal in Mechanicsburg and surrounds. We are a licensed waste removal company in Mechanicsburg and will dispose of your junk in a responsible manner, recycling where we can. We can collect your waste after hours, on weekends, and even offer a same day junk removal service.
We operate in the Mechanicsburg PA area. Call us on 717 988 0997. We look forward to hearing from you.
Please contact us at enquiries@junkremovalmechanicsburg.com
www.junkremovalmechanicsburg.com
Waste Management at Home, Mechanicsburg
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