Recycling is a key ingredient to a sustainable future. However, the key to a sustainable future isn’t limited solely to recycling. To reduce our footprint on the environment, each person must work together by considering the Waste and Resource Management Hierarchy as outlined below:
AVOID (waste minimisation), which represents avoiding unnecessary resource consumption.
REDUCE - if you can’t avoid waste, attempts should be made to reduce the quantity of waste hence reducing your environmental footprint.
RE-USE – if you can’t prevent it, than try to re-use it. Reusing items means that you don't have to buy new ones, which saves precious resources. Consider opportunities to reuse items before sending them to the rubbish dump. Waste should only be sent to landfill as a last resort after having considered every other waste reduction avenue.
RECYCLE - the fourth step in the waste cycle. Recycling recovers value from things that would otherwise simply be disposed of. There are many items that can be recycled such as steel, aluminium, glass, paper, cardboard, plastic, waste oil and waste batteries. It is also important to note that ORGANIC waste makes up nearly 30% of all waste received at our landfills. This allows great opportunities for mulching, composting, building worm farms etc.
Managing waste in our region is an expensive business which costs ratepayers over a million dollars a year, so the more we can do to manage waste as individuals the better the outcome.
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