3 Simple ways we can recycle more and send less to landfill

Probably one of the most difficult and time-consuming issues facing estate managers and residents of estates is waste management. It’s so easy to throw items and food away in the general waste bin and forget about it.

But creative waste management is essential if we are going to maintain the beauty and integrity of our estates and preserve our natural world.

Cop26 may be long forgotten, but it’s important that we take notes of the lessons learned there. Depending on who you talk to we have about eight, 10, or 12 years left to save the plant. Others believe we have already run out of time. But regardless of how much time we have left, it’s essential to try and work together to save what we have left.

Here’s what you can do in your homes, around the estate and where you live now:

1. Create compost

Food waste, if not composted, is one of the worst contributors to greenhouse gases as it decomposes into methane. According to a 2017 study by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) about 10 million tonnes of food (a third of our total production) goes to waste in South Africa every year.

Households can easily practice home composting to make compost for their own gardens and for those surrounding the estate.  Start by keeping a container in your kitchen where all the food waste is chucked. Once this is full, take it outside to your compost unit and use the compost to nourish your plants in your garden and surrounds.

2. Recycle your e-waste

Electrical waste is also a huge problem. We’re using more electronic devices than ever before, but this is mostly ending up in landfill when we discard them after realising they’re cheaper to replace than fix.

According to the e-Waste Association of South Africa (eWasa) each person in South Africa generates about 6.2kg of e-waste and according got the Department of Environmental Affairs we throw away around 360,000 tonnes of e-waste a year.

If devices such as your cell phones are just sitting in drawers, consider donating it to someone who really needs it. Alternatively dispose of the product responsibly after backing up any data that you may need. Contact your local council or waste management provider.

Alternatively, stores like Makro, Woolworths and Pick n Pay have been known to run campaigns to collect and recycle old e-waste so look out for these initiatives and take advantage of them.

3. Use less plastic

According to the WWF, South Africans use between 30kg and 50kg of plastic per person per year. The added problem with that is that our plastic ends up in our rivers and oceans and being consumed by our wildlife or killing it. If we end up eating wildlife that has consumed plastic, we end up eating plastic too.

Plastic SA says there are a few things you can do to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in our waters and landfill. These include:

1. Reducing, re-using and recycling: Most of our plastic packaging can be used more than once, including plastic carrier bags, food containers and water bottles.
2. Pick up your trash: Plastic SA encourages us to ‘only leave our footprints’. So, when you go for a picnic or take a walk in nature, take all your waste with you.
3. Join clean up days: This year 15 September was declared national River-Clean-Up Day and we’ll no doubt have other initiatives like this come 2022. However, you don’t need to wait for such initiatives to come to pick up rubbish off the street. If you see litter – pick it up and throw it away.