How you can minimise waste

Here are a few things that you can do to help minimise London's waste problems.

Buy wisely: use your 'purchasing power' to reject products with excessive packaging and buy goods that last, not disposable products.
Reuse paper, envelopes, bottles and containers and use reusable containers to store food rather than clingfilm or foil.
Take old carrier bags or a rucksack when shopping.
Take old clothes, shoes and bric-a-brac to charity shops
If you have a garden, start a compost heap to reduce the organic waste you send to landfill sites and compost food scraps and garden waste in your garden.
Use rechargable batteries rather than disposable batteries.
Join a nappy laundry service rather than buying disposables.
Prevent unwanted paper piling up – stop junk mail to your home.
Dispose of waste correctly rather than dumping it. For example: recycle your car oil at a recycling depot, petrol station or at a civic amenity site; donate your leftover paint to a community project (Britons fail to use 6.2m litres of the paint they buy each year).
Waste online has great advice on how to dispose of difficult or bulky items ethically - from electrical and electronic items (including white goods, unwanted mobile phones and old computers) to packaging and plastics.

Where to find out more

Waste Watch is the leading environmental charity dedicated to the reduction, reuse and recycling of household waste. Waste Watch's values are derived from a desire to protect the environment by ensuring the sustainable use of scarce resources.

Rethink rubbish gives the low-down on the growing problem of household rubbish in the UK and some quick and easy steps to help solve the problem.

Waste at Home - How can you start to be part of the solution? By putting into practice the 3Rs - reduce, reuse, recycle.
Waste at Work - What you can do to reduce your waste at work and how this will save your company money.

Recycle for London shows you that you can recycle more than you think and gives you all the information you need to recycle more. Use the the online database to find your nearest recycling facilities.

Waste online managed by Waste Watch and has been funded by the New Opportunities Fund Digitise project. Waste online is a 'one stop' solution for anyone requiring information on waste issues, bringing together in one place, information and reports about all areas of the waste sector.

London Community Recycling Network aims to make community-based sustainable waste management the preferred solution – financially, socially and environmentally – for the people of London. info on what and where you can recycle?

Recyclezone - for schools, children and teachers that tells you what's what in the world of waste! Although this site is called recyclezone, recycling is only one of the ways to deal with waste. The 3Rs of green waste disposal are reduce, reuse and recycle.

Environment

Who does what

Finding help

Green London

Protecting the environment

Freedom of information

Top of page