Winter support

Colchester Borough Council is providing support for residents, businesses and communities throughout winter.

Tips on how to reduce & reuse

TEST:

Some useful tips on our to reduce or reuse your rubbish

How to compost food in the garden and the kitchen and how to avoid junk mail.
Why using cloth nappies is good for your baby and better for the environment.
How to recycle batteries and how using energy saving light bulbs means less in landfill and more in your pocket.
What happens after we pick up your recycling.

In the UK we throw away 6.7 million tonnes of food each year. The average family throws away around £700 worth of food shopping.

Looking at the stats it seems insane that we would throw that much away.

To reduce not only the damage done to our bank accounts but the impact we have on our environment as well, here are some suggestions as to how we can cut down on our rubbish.

COMPOSTING FOOD AND GARDEN WASTE:

In the garden:

Garden composting is easy and everyone can do it. You could reduce your waste by a THIRD by using a compost bin to make your own fertiliser.

If you don’t have space for a bin you could work with a neighbour, sharing the costs and the benefits of thriving gardens.

If you live in a flat, why not get together with your neighbours or caretaker manager to get one for the communal garden.

Alternatively you could get a Food Waste Digester to compost your unwanted food. A little different from the conventional compost bin, the digester uses solar energy to break down food into water - great for watering your plants with.

To find out more about composting and compost bin special offers visit Essex Get Composting.

In the kitchen:

If you want to turn all of your food waste - even cooked leftovers - into compost at home, you can use a kitchen composter.

IT DOESN'T STOP THERE

Cutting down on our food waste is not the only way in which to have a significant impact on our environment. Here are some ways to be sustainable which may not have occurred to you before.

Junk mail:

Don't you just hate junk mail? You can stop it by registering with the Mailing Preference Service.

For more information about how to avoid junk mail and request your free Stamp out junk mail pack visit Recycle for Essex.

Nappies:

Modern cloth nappies are not only naturally soft and kind to your baby’s skin but using them is a great way to save money and to help your environment. Click here to learn more.

Batteries:

Britain is one of Europe’s worst battery recyclers. We throw away around 600 million of them every year, sending them to landfill where they disintegrate and release nasty chemicals into the air.

Find your nearest battery collection point to help better the environment and to increase our reputation as recyclers.