Reducing Home Wastage
Reducing home wastage is one of the ways you can help the environment. Some of the packaging on the food you buy in the supermarket is not biodegradable and thus only adds to landfill problems when you put it out with the trash. When you are shopping for groceries try to buy as many food items as you can that can be wrapped in brown paper or placed in paper bags. The paper will degrade and add to the soil. You can burn the paper in your fireplace or add it to your compost. You can also purchase a special shopping bag that you can use again and again and this will reduce the number of shopping bags you have to dispose of when you come home.
Although disposable items are very convenient, they are actually harmful to the environment. Instead of using disposable diapers , using cloth diapers will save you money because you wash them out and reuse them. Using a normal camera or even a digital camera as opposed to a disposable one is also a good idea for the environmentally conscious. Although paper cups and plates are very convenient when you have company, they do add to the amount of trash you have to throw away.
Glass milk bottles can be recycled, as can pop cans and juice boxes. When you recycle these materials, you are reducing the amount of household waste that you have to dispose of.
Electricty is one of the things that is wasted in many homes. Turn off the lights in all rooms that are not being used. If you have a bedroom in your home that is only used when you have company, you can even turn off the heat in this room and close the door. Opening and closing the refrigerator quite often burns more electricity than you realize, so you should try to take out all the things you need for cooking at the same time. Energy-efficient bulbs also cut down on the amount of electricity you waste because they require less wattage to provide a better light and will last longer.
Use energy efficient toilets that will only use the proper amount of water without wasting any. When you have a bath or a shower, there is no need to let the water run for any length of time. The same thing applies to filling the sink to wash dishes. When doing laundry select the water amount for the amount of clothes you place in the washing machine. Try to have a full load for the dryer rather than have it run to dry a single item of clothing. It may be a better idea to hang a single item to dry outdoors or on a rack in your bathroom.