Taking the first steps to help reduce how much we throw away can be overwhelming – where do you start?! We tend to have so much ‘stuff’ in our homes, we throw away more and more, there is plastic packaging everywhere you look, but it can turn around with a few changes in habits.

My advice is to focus on one thing at a time – creating too many new habits at once is daunting and starting small will make a difference. Once the first habit becomes the new ‘normal’, you can start on the next one! And before you know it, you will be adding less rubbish to landfill and being more mindful of bringing more single use plastic and future waste home.

If you could tackle ONE THING to reduce waste and your impact on the environment, what would it be? Are you already doing a few things to reduce waste and are ready for new ideas? Or are you just wanting to start somewhere?

To work out which new habit will create the most impact for you, take a look at your daily and weekly habits.

Do you buy a take away coffee every day?

Do you regularly pop in to the shops and end up with more plastic shopping bags each time?

Do you shop at supermarkets rather than bakeries, butchers and fruit and vegetable stores, where food tends to be packaged?

Do you buy your lunch each day?

Do you find yourself throwing a whole heap of rotten food out at the end of each week?

Do you buy bottled water regularly?

Where do you think you could make the most impact?

Here are TEN ideas to help you reduce waste instantly:

1) Switch to a reusable coffee cup for your daily coffee fix

It is estimated that 1 billion coffee cups are used in Australia each year, with the majority ending up in landfill. While there are biodegradable options around, the best option to reduce waste entirely is to invest in a reusable coffee cup. There are many brands and types available to suit your choice – once you have one, leave it on your desk at work or in the car so you have it when you need it. Or, slow things down and dine in when you enjoy your next café bought coffee.

2) Take your own shopping bags each time you get groceries

Whether it is plastic bags that you’ve accumulated, or purpose made and sturdy shopping bags, keep them all together in the car or near your shopping list to grab on the way out the door. You will save so much soft plastic by doing this!

There are a variety of reusable produce bags available for fruit and vegetables too, instead of using plastic bags. If you are crafty, you could even sew up your own.

Just making the switch to reusable bags for your grocery shopping can make a significant difference to how much plastic you use and throw away.

3) Avoid excess packaging

Have you noticed fruit and vegetables packaged in plastic, sometimes on polystyrene trays, and some items double or triple wrapped in packaging? Often this is unnecessary and can be avoided.

Buying loose fruit and vegetables from a green grocer or farmers market is a great option, and taking your own bulk food bags or jars to bulk food stores will also help reduce waste caused by excess packaging.

If the packaging is difficult to avoid, consider whether it can be recycled or is made from recycled materials. Make mindful shopping choices and this will go a long way to reducing waste.

4) Carry a reusable bag on you for those unplanned trips to the shops

While plastic bags at the supermarket are being phased out, other retail outlets still tend to put your purchased goods in a plastic bag. Carrying a reusable bag on you all the time will mean you won’t get caught out next time you are buying a pair of shoes, new clothes, or any other purchase.

There are plenty of reusable bags that fold down into a small pouch and they can easily be stowed away in a handbag or satchel. It is worth the small investment.

5) Switch to a reusable straw instead of a single use plastic straw

If you buy lots of drinks when out and about and if you tend to use a straw, then a reusable straw will be a good investment to replace single-use plastic straws. There are a few options available, like stainless steel straws or bamboo straws. Some come in a handy carry pouch so you can keep them in your bag all the time. An easy way to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in landfill or in our waterways.

6) Use a bamboo toothbrush and buy floss in plastic-free packaging

Don’t forget about the plastic you use in the bathroom! A toothbrush will last you a couple of months, so while you only need a few a year, the plastic can be avoided all together by switching to a bamboo toothbrush. Bamboo is fast growing and is often grown just from rainfall. It is biodegradable so can be composted, or get creative and re-purpose the handle.

There are a few brands of floss available now that are plant based and come in cardboard packaging.

Keep your teeth clean plastic free!

7) Take your lunch to work more often and avoid take away containers

If you find you buy lunch most days, resulting in throwing away lots of plastic containers there are a few options to reduce this waste. Taking your lunch to work more often is one, and it could be better on the wallet too! Or if you have a favourite lunch venue, you could eat in rather than take away. Another option is to ask whether they will put your order in your own container, I’ve done that a few times with sushi and sandwiches and it’s meant no plastic container thrown away, perfect!

This goes for take away dinners too, avoid the disposable containers by dining in or taking your own containers.

8) Start planning meals to reduce food waste

Australians throw away around 3.1 million tonnes of edible food each year[1]. That’s around 1 in every 5 shopping bags worth of food thrown away – this is a massive waste of resources that could easily be reduced. One way to tackle food waste is to plan out your meals for the week, and the ingredients that you’ll need. Only buy these and make sure you stick to your plan. If you cook a big batch, freeze some for lunches or dinners another time. A bit of planning can go a long way to reducing food waste and it will save you spending money on food that will end up being thrown away.

If you do find you still have some food scraps, you may be able to place these in your council green bin. If this is the case, your scraps will be turned into organic material that will be used on parks and gardens. Or a compost heap is a great way to keep the food productive, rather than having it adding to landfill.

9) Look for second hand items in the first instance before buying something new

Second hand stores or buy/swap/sell pages are a great source of items that are often as good as new. How often have you donated to an op shop or advertised something online that you bought and never used? Instead of buying something new, which takes up energy and resources to make, try looking for something second hand that someone else no longer needs. Whether its clothing or household goods, there are plenty of places to look for quality second hand items.

10) Consider whether you need something new at all!

We have so much ‘stuff’ these days and I love the idea of being more minimalistic. The more stuff I have in my house, the more cluttered and unorganised I feel. If you don’t have room for it, or you won’t use it A LOT, then consider whether you really need it at all. There are plenty of things we would love to have but don’t necessarily need. So make sure the item will work hard for you before you invest in something new.

What can you change?

You may be doing many of these already and of course there are many more new habits to add to the list. But these are a quick and easy start to build on from once you have these mastered.

Just one change can make a difference so let’s get started!

Visit our store for more ideas on reusable and recycled products to help reduce waste.

[1] http://www.environment.gov.au/protection/waste-resource-recovery/food-waste