CUT THE CRAP! 5 Tips to Reduce Your Household Waste for good

Let’s face it, we have become a generation of tossers. In the name of convenience we are throwing away so much stuff that unfortunately, will stick around longer than we will.

I must admit that I am no saint. In fact, I was a serial offender oblivious to the damage I was doing.

Over the last few years our family has been making small changes to live more consciously and that involved meticulously upcycling, reusing and recycling what we could. However when I realised that my kitchen cupboards and drawers were starting to look like a scene from Hoarders, I had to do something more.

So with a bit of planning, time and effort we are now down to one small bag of trash every three days – a huge step from the one bag that I was taking out every day! It takes a bit of time and perseverance for a new habit to kick in, and there is still plenty of room for improvement but here are the five things I did that immediately helped reduce my waste.

1. REFUSE
   Straws, plastic bags, packaging, string and anything really that’s going to be thrown once you get home can be refused. Refusing to take what you don’t need can be an empowering practice once you realise how much trash you’ve avoided making.

2. INVEST IN REUSABLES
   Firstly, plastic leeches out nasty chemicals which we ingest when hot food and drink comes in contact with it. Plus with so many beautiful and ethically-produced reusable products in the market, why would anyone want to eat from plastic takeaway containers anymore? Once you identify the bulk of your takeaways, invest in some essentials according to your needs.

3. ROT
   Food waste contributed to nearly half of my household waste, and I only realised this once I started composting. I find the Bokashi composting method ideal because everything can be composted (cooked, uncooked, plant, meat etc) plus we don’t have a huge space so it works great. Composting turns food waste into nutrient-rich soil which can be used back in the garden. Plus you don’t end up with a wet, soggy, smelly rubbish bin that attracts flies!

4. SHOP BULK
   A lot of my trash consisted of unnecessary, single-use packaging from supermarket products. Although a little bit more time-consuming while shopping, the great thing about shopping bulk is that you can bring your own jars and bottles to fill up (all you need to do is tare the weight of the jars first) so you can go from store to pantry shelf with no wastage.

5. EAT IN
   There are two parts to this, and I’ll start by eating in at home. Since Malaysia is so abundant with cheap and tasty food options, I have been getting carried away and would choose to buy instead of cooking what I have at home. Going on this mission to reduce my waste now I follow this sequence - finish any leftovers first, then creative recipes using what’s in the fridge and lastly dining in instead of takeaways, whenever its possible.

All in, its been a tremendously empowering experience for me especially since the results are immediate. If anyone here has any tips or tricks that have worked for you then please do share them, i would greatly appreciate it!