Recycling Your Waste and Donating Your Junk

Eco-friendly options for things you no longer need

Did you know  Australian’s produce approximately 540kg of household waste every year? That’s a little more than 10 kg per person every single week. Sending our junk to a landfill or simply letting go of things we don’t need is not always easy. It is as stressful as buying them.

There is always something you can do when your junk starts piling up. The safest way of dealing with waste is recycling and donating them to your local community. Today let us educate ourselves about recycling and donating options. Thanks to the team of Pro Rubbish Removal for generously sharing their expertise with us.

What is Recycling?

We always heard the word “Recycle”.  However,  many of us don’t know how to and that lack of knowledge is the biggest hindrance in achieving a zero-waste future.

Recycling is the process of collecting items that would otherwise be thrown away as waste and converting them into new products.

It goes beyond soft plastics and drinking containers. That’s why we are still far from maximising our recycling process. For instance, in 2017, Australia produced over 67 million tons of waste. Out of the 67, only 37 million were recycled. The rest are disposed in a landfill.

Household items that can either be recycle or reuse

Items made of metal, foam, wood, glass, and fibres can be recycled as part of going green and living responsibly. Most of these items may require a lot of effort in order to create a new product. At least they will not end up in a landfill.

Furniture

Your furniture often comes with many recyclable materials such as foam, wood and metal. Instead of dumping your old dusty seats, consider working on them. Find a way to turn it into something useful.  However, take note that most furniture can be hard to dismantle.  If you find this a tough job then you might want to find them a new home.

Appliances

We depend on appliances to do most of our household chores. They can be notably bulky to throw. That is why you need to find ways of making them functional all the time. However, eventually you will have to dispose these old appliances. One way to recycle them is to do swaps through retailers. When you buy a new appliance, you can request them to pick up your old one. This way you can be sure that it will be properly disposed.

Electronics

Electronics can either be donated or recycled. Many organisations  and manufacturers offer various options to recycle electronics. Some might charge a small fee, but it’s better than contributing to landfills.

Clothes

Most of us have clothes that we just can’t wear anymore. Do not just store them in your cabinet forever. There are many things you can make out of that old clothes including:

• DIY Blanket
• DIY Rugs
• Cut old jeans into shorts
• Re- design old shirts

Donate Usable Items

Just because you don’t need that extra printer doesn’t mean it’s junk. If selling is not an option for you, someone somewhere may need it. If you have plenty of functional unused items, consider giving them to charities. Donating feels so good when you think that someone is happy having your old stuff.

Be sure to assess the quality of the items first. Find out if they are still working. You don’t want to pass a useless junk that may end up in a landfill.   If you’re not sure whether something is worth donating, the charity can always help you. Confirm with your local charity what they can take before arranging for a pick-up.

 Final thoughts

There is so much you can do with unused items you don’t need in your home. Consider the options listed above. Let’s make our world a better place for us and our future generations.