There is a strong relationship between out rubbish disposal and the environments health. Our everyday habits have significant impacts on the world and so far we haven’t done a very good job of preserving its health. We constantly throw away things that can be reused or recycled and overuse plastic that takes hundreds of years to break down.

So, why care about proper waste disposal?

Despite increases in recycling efforts, people are still not recycling enough of the items and material that they use. Too many materials are being thrown into landfill that could have easily been recycled.

  • Just 4% of the 345 million handheld batteries consumed each year (phones, laptops, household batteries) are recycled
  • Just 1% of the 50-60 million fluorescent lights consumed in Australia each year are recycled
  • Our marine waste, made up of mostly plastic, ends up killing 100,000 mammals and more than a million sea birds every year
  • We have one of the highest paper recycling rates in the world recycling 87% of paper used

These statistics indicate that we need to focus heavily on how we dispose of our rubbish.

How do we improve?

There are a few basic tips for improving your waste removal, or more accurately, reducing the amount of waste that you need removed.

  • Purchase long lasting materials
  • Reduce the amount of packaging that you use and purchase and replace it with reusable containers
  • Hire the right people to help you dispose of your rubbish so that everything goes to the right location

Completing the above actions will ensure that you are starting in the right place. It is then important that these actions become habit and you slowly build in more habits like seeking ways to reuse items of clothing and other in-house materials that can have multiple uses.

When it comes to recycling, ensure that you recycle all of the packaging that you can. Too often we think that something isn’t recyclable and it ends up in landfill. Many companies nowadays are also trying to do their bit for the environment and so are using packaging that is either biodegradable or recyclable. Be sure to look on the packaging before throwing it away to see if it can be recycled.

If everyone does just a little bit more to help the environment when it comes to rubbish disposal it will make a huge difference as a whole.