As we welcome the Noongar season of Kambarang, spring into October with these 7 low-waste tips:
Declutter responsibly
Don’t toss it if you can repair, repurpose, reuse, donate or recycle. Many items can have a second life if you find a home for them – try these easy ways. If the items aren’t good enough to give away, recycle what you can or book a Verge Valet collection (see if your council qualifies).
Green your cleaning
Forget the fancy bottles and fragrances. A splash of dish soap, vinegar and water in a repurposed spray bottle can be used for most cleaning tasks around the home, including bench-tops, floors, windows, toilets, tapware, grease removal, etc. The soapy scrubbing dislodges germs and dirt, while the vinegar reduces streaking. Simply spray…and wipe!
Got an over-supply of lemons? Try these cleaning recipes instead for lemon-based cleaning and deodorising. If you need to disinfect, wipe 70% rubbing alcohol, undiluted, across hard surfaces, door handles, tapware, etc. after cleaning and allow to air dry.
Say no to single-use
You don’t need single-use wipes to clean your home. Simply rip and repurpose your old t-shirts, tea-towels, sheets and face-washers into cleaning rags. Then simply wash and reuse. Easy!
Find the forgotten food in your fridge and pantry
De-clutter your fridge and pantry by eating through the forgotten food (check the use date by first). In Australia, we each throw away about 312kg of food per year, costing households around $2,500 – $5,00 per year, so if you can eat what you have instead of tossing it out, you are doing the planet and your wallet an enormous favour. Re-order items in your fridge and pantry, so that foods that need to be eaten first are near the front. Make sure these foods are on your weekly meal plan so you eat them before they spoil. Click here for more ways to avoid food waste.
Spring clean your diet
As the weather warms, now is the perfect time to embrace lighter, brighter dishes. Not only is a diet rich in plant-based foods better for your health, it is better for the planet too. Plus, you can easily compost your veggie scraps, reducing what is sent to landfill. For meat scraps and bones, try the Bokashi Method or put meat scraps in your general waste bin.
Borrow instead of buy
Do you really need it? Keep things clean and tidy by reducing what you bring into your home in the first place. October is Buy Nothing New Month, which is a great opportunity to borrow instead of buy, especially if you only need the item for a short time. Click here for some great tips to get what you need without creating waste.
Compost it!
Reduce landfill waste while nourishing your garden. Composting food scraps is easy and a great way to reduce methane created when food is landfilled and will nourish your garden at the same time. Click here for some great composting tips to get you started. And in case you’re secretly wondering, dog poo is compostable too (just not in the same compost bin as your food scraps).
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