A little Help for the Environment

It doesn't take much, but there are several small things that everyone can do that will go a little way to helping the environment.

First, I notice a lot of people don't think when throwing stuff away. I don't mean they become stupid the moment they throw something into the garbage, I mean they don't think about what impact their action has when you multiply it a few thousandfold as everyone else does the same thing.

Landfill sites are bursting at the seams because people throw away so much stuff. A lot of it needn't even go into landfill, it's just that people don't realize they can dispose of things in a different way that will have a huge impact on the rate at which landfills get filled up.

Here are a few things that just a tiny bit of extra thought will make a difference.

Plastics

Plastic bottles. If there is no recycling bank near you, then the next best thing you can do is at least reduce the volume of the waster that you dump. That means squeezing up the bottles when they're empty to make them as small as possible. That will in itself save a huge volume in landfill if everyone did this.

Cartons

Milk and juice cartons. These shouldn't be chucked in the bin whole either. It doesn't take much to fold them into a small block and reduce their volume by 90%.

Paper

Paper and cardboard - don't even throw it out. Why would you? If you have a garden then you should have a compost heap. If you have a compost heap, rip up paper and cardboard into manageable pieces and mix them into your heap. It all biodegrades with the rest of the composting material.

Organic Waste

Kitchen waste. Again, if you have a compost heap, you should be throwing all peelings and unused leafy and vegetable material onto the compost heap. Some gardeners don't like throwing potato peelings on the heap because they have a tendency to grow in the heap. What are they worried about? As the things grow, just turn them in and let the composting process break the additional plant matter down!

Incidentally, if you don't have a garden or a compost heap, surely you know a friend, relative or neighbour who has and could be convinced to take your compost-able material for their own heaps.

These are just a few things you can do to help make a difference.

For one person to do these things the effect will be barely noticeable, but for a thousand people to do these things an impact will be felt!

I'll post more ideas like this in future articles.

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