Each year Australians waste around 7.3 million tonnes of food equivalent to about 300kg per person or one in five bags of groceries, at a cost of about $20 billion!
Australian Government
If we get better at buying only what we actually need to use, and avoid single-use and non-recyclable materials, we can limit the amount of energy needed in their production
Explore the checklist to find out more.
Waste Checklist
- Take a re-useable water bottle with you whenever you go out
- Say “no” to single-use plastics (carrier bags, straws, cutlery, water bottles, coffee cups, etc)
- Buy re-useable glass/plastic containers for lunch and storage to reduce packaging
- Keep re-useable shopping bags in the car and remember to use them when shopping
- Buy the odd-shaped fruit and vegetables
- Switch from disposable batteries to re-chargeable
- Re-use wrapping paper or use a sustainable alternative like fabric (eg Furoshiki)
- Choose gifts that have minimal/no plastic packaging
- Recycle coffee pods and use loose-leaf tea in a diffuser rather than tea bags
- Avoid buying products with unnecessary or excessive packaging
- Mend & repair things if you can, or buy second hand rather than new Learn more
- Understand the environmental impact of different clothing fabrics
- Use brown paper bags or greaseproof paper to wrap sandwiches rather than clingfilm
- Before you buy something new, including clothes, ask yourself “Do I really need it?”
- Borrow or rent items that you only use occasionally, even if you can afford to buy
- Use a hairdresser that is part of Sustainable Salons Australia Learn more
- Compost your food scraps or start a worm farm Learn more
- Avoid buying things that cannot be recycled
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