Climate change is real and we’re exacerbating the situation further by throwing in more garbage and irresponsibly polluting our planet. Throwing less is possible! Putting household peelings, leftover meals, paper, and cardboard is a waste. These are re-usable resources. And their incineration contributes to global warming. But beyond recycling and selective sorting, which have their limits, common sense gestures give results. By reducing your waste at the source, you can reduce your trash by half.

Rubbish removal Sydney emphasizes on the prohibition of plastic, especially reusable plastic. 

LIMIT DISPOSABLE PRODUCTS

They represent around 8% of waste per inhabitant and per year or more than 30 kilos. Banish wipes, disposable dishes, and single-use cameras. This includes the so-called “biodegradable” products, which in reality are not biodegradable.

LIMIT PACKAGING

Avoid packaging and over-packs as much as possible. Choose refills or homemade products. Also think about products sold in bulk. Prefer tap water to bottled water. Don’t be fooled by the fashion of reusable plastics.

OPT FOR REUSABLE PRODUCTS

Invest in products that last longer. Choose what is reusable. Buying rechargeable (or recyclable) batteries can drastically limit your waste. Replace paper towels with tea towels, paper coffee filters with a washable filter, aluminum foil with plastic containers, a disposable pen with a refillable pen…

REDUCE PAPER CONSUMPTION

Reduce printing of e-mail or paper output of documents. Many of them can be viewed on the screen and can be archived digitally. Favor online services for billing of water, electricity, telephone, ISP; income statement, and monitoring of Social Security reimbursements.

SORT BETTER

It is a great idea to sort your waste at your house where you generate it. This way you will be aware of how much stuff you are wasting which could have been avoided. 

COMPOSTING KITCHEN WASTE

Kitchen waste represents an average of 45 kg/capita per year. If you have a garden, practice individual composting. This single gesture would reduce household waste by 30 to 40% per year per person. If you do not have a garden, ask your municipality to find out if you have collective composting near you.

REUSE GARDEN WASTE

Consider recycling grass clippings, dead leaves, and plant sizes. Green waste represents an average of 160 kg per person per year. Mulching and composting allow them to be reused on-site.

MANAGING HAZARDOUS WASTE WELL

Medicines, batteries, small electrical and electronic equipment, cans of paint, solvents, old radiographs, and light bulbs should not be thrown carelessly into the bin. These can be harmful to the environment. These types of waste should absolutely not be thrown into household waste because they require special treatment at the end of their life. They must, therefore, be returned to the store, recycling center or pharmacy as appropriate.

DONATE

Furniture and clothes that are no longer used, rather than throwing them away, consider giving them a second life. Textile collection containers collect clean clothing, household linen, as well as small leather goods and portable shoes. Some municipalities have signed a contract with charities where they donate reusable stuff.

What if you tried to better manage your waste and better recycle in the office? With a few simple gestures and simple tips, you could greatly improve your environmental footprint and that of your business!

Manage your rubbish at the office

All the good habits that we try to establish when we are at home, we tend to forget them when we arrive at work. And for good reason, we are not alone in the office (and therefore not solely responsible). Waste accumulates, recycling is forgotten and it’s a shame because, with a few simple gestures or tips, recycling and better managing your waste at the office can be a breeze. As part of No Impact Week, we invite you to discover how to do it. So here are some tips and tricks that you can easily implement in your business.

1 – Organize an activity on recycling rules

Let’s start with the basics. In many companies, there are not even specific bins for recycling. Therefore, once lunch is over, all the garbage goes to the same place: plastic bottles, food waste, cardboard boxes. Many citizens do not yet know exactly how to recycle, what are the rules and how to follow them effectively.

The first thing to do is, therefore, to have the basic conditions in place to allow retraining at work! Here is a simple to-do list to follow:

• Install or have specific garbage cans (“all-purpose” trash, trash for recyclables, and trash for glasses)

• Make sure that these trash cans are well taken care of by the maintenance agents of your company (or your business premises)

• Make an animation to train employees in sorting rules. Indeed, the rules for sorting waste are sometimes complex: did you know, for example, that plastic yogurt pots cannot be recycled? Or that broken table glasses do not go into the glass bin? To find your way around, you can consult our article “Recycling rules: how to properly sort and recycle your waste”.

• Clearly display the recycling rules in your garbage cans. Thus, no more excuses: everything is clearly indicated.

2 – Install a composter or a worm-compost

This is a simple way to manage food waste in the office. Whether you have a company restaurant or a simple canteen, it is possible to install composters to recycle your food waste.

The principle is simple: these are bins in which certain organic waste is stored. Then, depending on the type of composter, we add specific worms that will transform this waste into compost, which can then be used to fertilize plants. When a composter is used correctly, it emits no odor.

3 – Organize a Waste Reduction challenge

Another way to make waste management and recycling in the workplace more concrete is to organize a sort of “waste reduction challenge”. To do this, simply collect the waste produced at the workplace (for 1 month or a week for example), and weigh it to estimate how much waste is produced by employees. Then, it is possible to bring in an expert or a consultant who can tell you how to develop a strategy to reduce this waste. This can consist, for example, of:

• Replacing disposable consumables (such as plastic cups) with more sustainable alternatives

• Reducing food packaging (for example by placing group orders for employee lunches)

• Reducing paper waste (for example by setting printing targets not to be exceeded, or by using printed and unused sheets as drafts)

CONCLUSION

We often forget our responsibilities as citizens and carelessly dispose of our waste. We need to realize that what we throw might end up in the oceans and we might become responsible for the death of marine life through strangulation from such products.

With these tips, you will be able to manage your waste properly.