Can you help us...?
The things we buy, use and throw out make up a third of our carbon footprints.
Reducing the amount we buy and preventing waste altogether is the most sustainable choice – much more than recycling it.
Where waste is unavoidable, recycling is the most climate-friendly option and helps keep your council tax down. Together, we recycled a whopping 10,820 tonnes between 2020-2021 across our borough.
Here are the three lifestyle hacks to reduce waste and help us take climate action together.
1. Reduce
The most sustainable choice is to reduce the amount we buy and waste, and we’re proud to say that H&F already has one of the lowest waste generation rates in the country.
Here are some ways we can keep the low-waste momentum going.
Food waste:
Every year, more than one third of the food we produce goes to waste – and with it £420-£750 for the average UK family. To reduce your ‘foodprint’, buy only the food you need (in season if possible), follow the storage guidelines, and enjoy shared surplus food for little or nothing through platforms like OLIO or Too Good To Go. You can find more tips at Love Food Hate Waste.
When you do produce food waste, compost it if you can. We’ve already sold 90 home compost bins through our partner Getcomposting. Get yours today or consider co-composting with your neighbours.
Single-use plastic:
Don’t miss out on our 15 top tips on how to reduce your single-use plastic waste.
Reusable nappies scheme:
Have you heard of the Washable Nappy Company? If you are pregnant or have a baby and live in H&F, you are entitled to one free real nappy voucher worth £45.
2. Repair
Need a hand fixing your...
... bike, but you're missing the right tools? If you live, work or study in H&F, you can book one of the 10 available cycle stands at the Bikeworks (WEST) training centre to work on your own bike for up to one hour (tools included!)
… clothes? Love Your Clothes can help you fall in love with your wardrobe all over again by providing you with simple tips on how to repair, upcycle or properly care for your favourite outfits.
… broken or slow devices? Services like Restart or iFixit will help you ‘fix your relationship with electronics’ to ‘help fix the planet’ by teaching you how to repair your tablet, smartphone or toaster. Or you can take it to a repair business – have a look at Restart’s repair directory, and suggest a good business to add if you know one.
3. Share and reuse
Some of the things we own are meant to be in our lives till death – or their expiration date – do us part. But we can also give things a second life through sharing and reuse.
One way is by sharing your belongings with others. Streetbank allows you to help out your next-door neighbours by letting them borrow things that would otherwise go unused most of the time.
You may also do good in true minimalist fashion by selling things you no longer use but that are still in tip-top condition on eBay, Vinted or Depop.
And of course, never underestimate the impact you can have –on the environment but also on a stranger’s life – by donating to sites like FreeCycle, TRAID or directly to your local charity shops.
Background
In July 2019, H&F Council declared a climate and ecological emergency and launched the Climate and Ecological Emergency Commission – a resident-led commission to help make H&F a green and safe place for future generations to live in. Our pledge to cut our borough’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2030 is an integral part of our Climate and Ecology Strategy and is supported by a range of policies which:
- improve air quality
- promote biodiversity
- reduce traffic congestion and pollution
- make our streets cleaner and greener
- work with our community to put environmental concerns at the heart of all we do.
Help us grow the greenest borough!
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