Essential Methods To Reduce Your Landfill Waste

Let’s face it; landfill waste is a problem. Every day items are thrown away and sent to landfills, quickly becoming just another pile of rubbish in a seemingly endless display of waste. Reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills is imperative, helping to reduce the economic and environmental impact of slow decomposition, which results in environmental degradation and a significant downturn in free land that could instead be used for property development. In this post, we aim to provide essential methods to reduce the waste you send to landfills, emphasising why it matters.



Donate Clothes

In the modern world, clothes are something of a tradable commodity, more affordable and readily available than ever before, this has inevitably led to a far more disposable society. Make no mistake; fast fashion is having an unprecedented impact on landfills across the world, with clothes being thrown away and reaching landfill sites more than ever. Instead of throwing away unwanted clothes, why not donate them to people in need? Or, in many instances, you could even sell your old clothes online for money.

Reduce Food Waste

Borderline insulting; throwing away food is the last resort for most people, but in modern western society, a large percentage of our food is left uneaten and sent to landfills. Reducing your food waste is imperative, so why not donate some of it? In particular, canned goods and foods with long expiration dates.

As an added suggestion, why not try meal planning? Planning what you’re going to eat in advance of the week ahead will help to significantly reduce the amount of food waste ending up in the bin, preventing over-purchasing of fresh ingredients that would otherwise go to waste. Even better, you can always use the leftovers and save it for tomorrow’s dinner, or freeze it for the future, to reduce your food waste further whilst saving money in the process.

Avoid Plastics

Much harder than it sounds, food packaging is typically wrapped in plastic to provide protection and freshness in transit, but this can have a devastating impact on our landfill waste, with a vast majority of plastics being generated for packaging. In fact, many single-use products are made from plastic, such as cutlery, straws, cups and plates, or even something as simple as a yoghurt pot or a teabag, (yes, teabags do have plastic in them!). Plastic water bottles are also a serial offender, with millions of plastic water bottles produced and disposed of literally every single day. Reusable water bottles, from companies such as Chilli’s, have since become a commercially viable product in the modern world, with less emphasis placed on single use plastics.

Recycle

A socially accepted and popular method of reducing landfill waste is through recycling. Companies and governmental bodies are now promoting recycling regularly to ensure the reduction of landfill waste, with a more environmentally conscious form of waste disposal preferred.

Inevitably, some waste has to end up in landfills. Nevertheless, at Thompson Quarries, we aim to be as responsible and sustainable as possible, efficiently separating out any materials at our recycling centre that we can reuse. We work closely with agencies to ensure that our landfill sites conform to all current regulations and avoid having a negative environmental impact. Contact us today.