Each and every one of us can make a significant contribution to reducing mountains of waste and thus protecting the environment through conscious behavior and consumption.
It doesn’t always have to be “big deeds” – many small steps in waste prevention also lead in the right direction.
Join us on this journey!
Waste prevention is possible in every situation in life: when shopping, at home, at work, at school or on the go:
Avoid single-use drinks bottles or disposable yoghurt pots when shopping.
Bottles marked “reusable” can be refilled up to 50 times and are particularly good for the environment.
Drinking tap water and avoiding water bottles saves you money.
With a water bubbler, you can turn your tap water into a “fizzy” drink.
Fill takeaway liquids into refillable drinking bottles and buy a thermo or reusable cup for your “coffee to go”.
Cloth bags, shopping baskets and shopping nets are practical, reusable alternatives to plastic bags.
Not only are they environmentally friendly, they are also currently enjoying a real revival as a fashion accessory.
To avoid long transportation routes, buy fruit and vegetables that are as “regional and seasonal” as possible.
What is left over in the household and garden, for example when cleaning fruit and vegetables, can be ideally processed into compost.
Whether you compost it yourself in the garden or put it in the organic waste garbage can:
Your organic waste is returned to nature as valuable compost.
Avoid using bin liners and so-called “compostable organic waste bags” in the organic waste garbage can!
Place your organic waste in the organic waste garbage can, e.g. wrapped in newspaper or paper bags.
Products sealed or packaged in plastic film often cause unnecessary waste.
Avoid mini-portion packaging, e.g. for butter, jam, condensed milk or sweets, as these cause a lot of waste.
Buy food loose, e.g. at the market or from the bakery.
In many cities, there are more and more retailers and, for example, farm stores that offer packaging-free goods.
Reusable nets are ideal for buying fruit and vegetables.
For daily shopping or snacks: cling film made of plastic or aluminum foil is only used once and then ends up in the waste garbage can.
Environmentally friendly, reusable beeswax cloths are a clever alternative to plastic wrap.
Lunch boxes and cling film boxes also reduce waste and can be brought to the fresh food counter at many retailers.
Around ten percent of residual waste in Germany consists of diapers. On average, 5,000-6,000 disposable diapers are used for a baby until it is dry.
This corresponds to approx. 1000 kg of diaper waste, which must be disposed of in the residual waste garbage can.
Parents who do without disposable diapers and change their children with cloth diapers make a noticeable contribution to waste avoidance, as this results in significantly less waste. Only the fleece inserts need to be thrown away. The diapers themselves are washable. In the long term, cloth diapers not only produce much less waste, but are also cheaper than disposable diapers.
There are various systems available, and many cloth diaper consultants, including those here in Emsland, are happy to provide information about them.
The production of paper has a negative impact on the environment, as it requires a lot of wood, water and energy.
Whether it’s printer and photocopier paper, toilet paper or kitchen roll: use recycled paper, as most of it is made from recycled waste paper.
If you read a lot, you can save a lot of paper with an e-book reader.
Use the paper in printers on the front and back and only print out what is absolutely necessary.
A corresponding note on your letterbox “No advertising please” can also stem the flood of advertising.
The more people participate, the less advertising is printed.
Preferably use electrical appliances with a power connection, rechargeable batteries or solar devices instead of battery-operated appliances.
If you cannot do without batteries, dispose of them after use at collection points (green return boxes in supermarkets, at electrical retailers, at the mobile hazardous waste collection point or at central landfill sites).
Never dispose of batteries in residual waste, as harmful substances such as nickel, cadmium and mercury can be released.
Instead of liquid soaps and shower gel in plastic packaging, use a low-waste alternative: the tried-and-tested bar of soap – much more concentrated, more economical and therefore often cheaper than liquid soaps.
If you don’t want to do without the liquid version, you should use refill packs, which leave behind less plastic waste than a new product including soap dispenser thanks to their much thinner materials.
The European Week for Waste Prevention (EWAV) is a project with the declared aim of presenting the topic of sustainable use of our world’s resources to the European public through a variety of activities. During a specific week in November, everything revolves around sustainable waste management.
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