Reduce
Buy less stuff you don't need.
Reducing the number of products that create waste, means less waste to be disposed of.
Food makes up 15% of avoidable waste to landfill, followed by Plastics 13% and Fiber/ paper, cardboard 12%.
Small changes to avoidable waste can significantly reduce your general waste by 40%.
How to reduce waste
- Buy bulk e.g. rice, pet food, coffee (no single serve sachets)
- Buy less, but buy good quality (appliances, tools, whiteware etc)
- Go for email correspondence (go paperless)
- Buy loose fruit and vegetables - Brewtown Farmers Market
Love food hate waste
New Zealand families waste about $560 each year on food which is thrown uneaten into the rubbish bin. This adds up to a staggering $872 million for the whole country. It also results in 122,000 tonnes of edible food going to landfill and generating greenhouse gases.
We’re proud to be part of the national Love Food Hate Waste NZ campaign which aims to turn this around by inspiring and enabling people to waste less food.
Other organisations in Upper Hutt working to reduce waste include:
Learn how to reduce waste
Kate Meads, The Rubbish Trip and The Sustainability Trust are some of New Zealand’s leading Waste Minimisation Educators, they have lived experience of reducing waste in the home and offer practical tips and tricks.
Attend a Kate Meads Workshop at katemeads.co.nz