Waste Reduction Tips

Our community has expressed their desire to help reduce waste to landfill, and find more ways to avoid, reduce, reuse, recycle and compost, but we understand that the different options can be a lot to take in.

This page is all about helping you meet your waste management goals, and helping make the process of reducing waste to landfill a little bit easier to understand.

Decrease the amount of waste going you send to landfill by practising these five alternatives.

Join millions of people reducing their plastic waste.

Plastic Free July® is a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution – so we can have cleaner streets, oceans, and beautiful communities.

Will you be part of Plastic Free July by choosing to refuse single-use plastics?

*Please note that the RED Cycle program is currently unavailable.

• Use reusable containers and coffee cups instead of accepting single use items
• Take your own reusable bags to the shops instead of accepting plastic bags
  
• Choose to purchase items with less packaging
• Invest in good quality items with longer lifespans
  
• Refuse junk mail

• Use stainless steel, plastic or glass water bottles
  
• Use non-disposable coffee cups
  
• Remember to take your reusable shopping bags
  
• Choose lunch boxes and food containers instead of plastic wrap
  
• Use crockery and cutlery that can be washed and used again
  
• Donate good quality items such as clothing, towels and bedding to your local op shop or animal shelter
• Consider cloth nappies
• Donate or upcycle furniture

• Clean paper and cardboard
• Rigid plastics like bottles, takeaway containers and butter containers
  
• Glass bottles and jars, lids removed
  
• Tin, aluminium and steel cans
  
• Empty aerosol cans
  
• Soft, scrunchable plastics
  
• Household chemicals, paints and oils
  
• Clean, dry and white polystyrene
  
• Mobile phones and their chargers

• Food scraps, removed from any packaging
  
• Tea bags and coffee grounds
  
• Egg and seafood shells
• Tissues and paper towel
• Lawn clippings, weeds and cut flowers
• Shredded paper
• Sawdust
• Hair and nail clippings
  
• Dirty cardboard like pizza boxes

Saveful is a free app that helps users to make thousands of different dishes with what’s already on hand in their kitchens – helping to save on grocery bills and waste less at the same time.

Saveful users simply ‘swipe right’ on tailor-made recipes to make the most of what ingredients they have on-hand, based on their specific budget, taste, cooking skills and dietary requirements.

Not sure where a particular item should go? Find all the answers on the Which Bin SA website.