Ways to Reduce Waste & Make Positive Purchase Decisions in the Home

Ways to Reduce Waste and Make Positive Purchase Decisions around Home

From buying in bulk and using your own storage containers to choosing electric razors over disposable ones – this quick reference guide is packed full of ideas to avoid waste both in and around your home!

Download your own copy here:

Planning a renovation? Before you start, check out these handy tips for reducing waste when extending, updating or renovating your home:

How about a garden make-over? More ideas here to give your garden some love in a low-waste way:

Waste NoT Awards 2019 – Entries Open July 1st!

The 2019 Northern Tasmania Waste NoT Awards are bigger and better than ever!

This year there’s $2,500 worth of prizes up for grabs recognising excellence in waste avoidance, waste processing and education initiatives through to recycling, re-invention and upcycling.

0717 WASTE Waste Not material A3 47

Individuals, schools, businesses, community groups and not-for-profit organisations in Northern Tasmania are eligible to enter (in the Break O’Day, Northern Midlands, Launceston City, Dorset, Meander Valley, West Tamar or George Town Council areas).  Categories include:

  • Early Learners
  • Primary School
  • Secondary School
  • Colleges/Tertiary Education Institutes
  • Small to Medium Organisations (under 150 employees)
  • Large Organisations (over 150 employees)
  • Individuals
  • Not for Profit/Community Group; and
  • State/Local Government.

Entry nominations open Monday 1 July and close at 5.00pm on Friday 9 August 2019.

Complete the online entry form here.  This link also includes the Awards’ full application guidelines and eligibility details.

Category winners receive a trophy made from recycled materials PLUS a $250 prize.  There’s also a bonus $250 to be awarded to the overall winner!

The Waste NoT Awards are hosted by the Northern Tasmanian Waste Management Group on behalf of its member councils and are proudly supported by Veolia.

Tips to Reduce Waste this Christmas

The Christmas and holiday season creates a spike in both garbage and recycling in Tasmania, but there are ways to reduce waste while retaining the festive spirit.Creative ideas to reduce waste
Tasmania’s three regional Waste Management Groups have compiled the 12 Tips of Christmas covering everything from gifts, to decorations and festive meal planning so you can get in the waste-free spirit:

  1. Use paper wrapping that can be easily reused or recycled rather than foil or cellophane or better still, get creative with wrapping using a scarf or towel as part of the gift.
  2. Avoid products with lots of packaging and consider giving a service, donation or experience instead.
  3. Plan your meals and buy only the ingredients that you need. Share leftovers with friends and family to ensure nothing goes in the bin.
  4. Look for gifts that are made from recycled or upcycled materials such as wallets made from old transit canvas or jewellery from cutlery.
  5. Send e-cards rather than traditional cards and keep any cards received to cut into strips for use as gift tags the following year.
  6. Collect flat household batteries from any Christmas toys and drop them off for recycling at the local Council office or Waste Transfer Station.
  7. If you receive a gift that doesn’t fit or is really not wanted, consider donating it to a charity so it can find another home.
  8. Borrow or hire anything you need for a party rather than buying, especially if it will only be used for a short time.
  9. Take the lids off plastic and glass bottles that go into the kerbside recycling bin and place the lids in the garbage to reduce contamination of good recycling.
  10. Don’t pack recycling inside plastic bags or boxes, simply place them loose and mingled in the kerbside recycling bin. Flatten boxes to help fit more in your recycling bin.
  11. If electronic equipment is upgraded, contact your local council to find out about e-waste recycling options and local collection points for old mobile phones.
  12. Get crafty with decorations using cuttings from the garden or make items from last year’s wrapping and cards that can be stored and reused.

Merry Christmas and best wishes for a safe and happy New Year from the Rethink Waste Tasmania team!

It’s what’s on the inside that matters – spread the word on excess packaging

When rethinking waste in Tasmania, we’re aiming to avoid or reduce waste being created in the first place. Where it can’t be avoided, then the goal is to reuse or recycle whatever is possible.It's what's on the inside that matters. Use less. Waste less.It's what's on the inside that matters. Use less. Waste less.

Tasmania’s three regional Waste Management Groups and their local council members often hear from residents and businesses expressing their disappointment at the amount of unnecessary packaging used on fresh produce and other products, including from online shopping outlets.

Good manufacturers and retailers respond to what their customers want, so we’ve created an easy way for Tasmanians to have their views on packaging  heard.

Simply download one of these electronic postcards and email to the manufacturer, retailer or supplier.

Spread the word! Ask that they use less and waste less and together we can encourage a positive change.

If you’ve experienced wasteful packaging used on FRESH PRODUCE – here’s a simple message that you can email to the retailer or supplier:

If you’ve experienced wasteful packaging on any OTHER PRODUCTS – here’s another message aimed at those manufacturers or suppliers:

These electronic postcards are in JPG (picture) format and so are also suitable for attaching to the ‘Contact Us’ forms sometimes found on business websites.

Congratulations 2018 Waste NoT Award winners

The winners of the fifth annual Waste NoT Awards were announced at the end of August, with eleven projects selected across several categories for their innovative waste management initiatives in northern Tasmania.

Congratulations to:

  • George Town Neighbourhood House, Interweave Arts and Self Help Workshop Inc – winners in the Not for Profit category.
  • Plastic Free Launceston – winner in the Community Group category.
  • Trevallyn Primary School Student Leaders, Youngtown Primary and Riverside Primary Waste Warriors – winners in the Primary School category.
  • St Helens District High School and Scottsddale High School – winners in the Secondary School category.
  • Justwaste Consulting and TP Jones & Co – winners in the Small/medium Organisations category.

The Waste NoT Awards (NoT = Northern Tasmania) is an initiative of the Northern Tasmanian Waste Management Group, which seeks to celebrate the efforts of schools, individuals and organisations in northern Tasmania who are improving their waste management practices.

Read about the winners here:

Plastic Free July: take the challenge or make a change

Plastics are a major cause of litter and pollution, especially in our waterways and oceans. The Plastic Free July initiative started in Western Australia and is now catching on worldwide, with more than 1 million people making a positive change last year.

Take the challenge or make a change in whatever way you can to avoid or reduce single use plastic, for this month or forever!

Say ‘no thanks’ to plastic shopping bags, single use water bottles, plastic straws, plastic food wrap and take away coffee cups and lids.

Bring your own reusable shopping bags or choose a box. Refill your drink bottle. Buy and store food in reusable or compostable containers. Choose to refuse plastic straws or use metal or paper alternatives.

And remember… you can often recycle what can’t be avoided. Plastic recycling in Tasmania includes via your kerbside recycling bin and your Waste Transfer Station for some plastics such as milk and soft drink bottles and margarine containers. There are also soft plastic collection bins in major supermarkets and even printer cartridge recycling via Planet Ark.

 

Take the Plastic Free July challenge at www.plasticfreejuly.org or simply make a change at home, at work or at school in whatever way possible.

Rethink waste in Tasmania and find ways to avoid single use plasticIf we each do a little, together we can achieve a lot!

 

 

Follow Rethink Waste Tasmania on Facebook for inspirational ideas throughout July and let’s all have a go at reducing or avoiding single use plastic as often as we can!

Finding ways to avoid, reduce and reuse waste

The three regional Waste Management Groups have created an awareness raising program to encourage Tasmanians to avoid , reduce and reuse waste.

Tasmanians are pretty good at recycling and although this is a great way to keep waste out of landfill and our environment, there are many other things we can all do to be good sorts and decrease our waste.

It’s important that we try to find ways to reuse and reduce waste, or best of all to avoid generating waste altogether.

Here are some simple ideas being promoted across Tasmania on TV, in newspapers, on radio and social media.  Are there one, two or  more things you could be doing to rethink waste?avoid generating waste where possible

Avoid waste:

  • Take your travel mug for your next coffee
  • Refill your drink bottle in place of packaged water
  • Take your own shopping bags
  • Choose unpackaged food and products over those with excessive packaging
  • Use containers instead of plastic wrap for storing left-overs
  • Say no to plastic straws.

Reduce waste:

  • Plan ahead and only buy ingredients you need for the week
  • Choose and maintain household items that will last or can be repaired
  • Borrow or hire instead of buying if you only need an item for a short time.

Reuse waste:

  • Post unwanted items online for sale or giveaway, hold a garage sale or swap-meet
  • Treasure hunt for pre-loved items before buying new – Council tip shops are a great resource too
  • Cook up the next meal from left-overs
  • Find new uses for every-day items, such sewing old clothes or fabric items into reusable bags.

If you haven’t yet seen the Avoid – Reduce – Reuse – Recycle commercials on TV in Tasmania, you can watch them on our Rethink Waste YouTube channel.

Tis the season to reduce, reuse, recycle!

From all of our member Councils and team at Rethink Waste, we wish you a fabulous festive season and wonderful New Year!

Want to make your celebrations jolly for the planet too?  Have fun following Planet Ark’s 12 Do’s of Christmas… maybe it will inspire some new year resolutions too!

Download your copy and pop it on the fridge:

Merry Christmas!

verticaldividerRethink Waste aims to improve our efforts at reducing, reusing and
recycling in order to decrease the amount of waste that ends up as landfill.
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