Across the globe, the amount of garbage generated every day has increased significantly. This has led to rising pollution levels and challenged governments, companies, and individuals to come up with innovative solutions to garbage problems.
In a bid to address the waste problem, governments and even private organizations are calling for sustainable waste management. This will help create unique opportunities for businesses to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, adopt eco-friendly practices and reduce operating costs. But for most people, the most effective way to manage waste is to get professional waste collection services. While this is a good idea, there are more effective and long-term solutions that address the garbage problems in businesses, homes, and industrial facilities.
1. Donating Useful Items
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Rather than throw items that you no longer use in the trash, donating them to people who can make good use not only reduces garbage but also helps people who may be in need. For instance, grocery stores, households, and restaurants can donate extra food and perishables to food banks and shelters instead of throwing them in the trash.
If you need to replace the furniture in your home or business, navigate here to get a professional company that can help with the disposal. However, if you know someone who might make better use of your furniture, donating it is a better way to get rid of old furniture pieces that you no longer need.
If you have furniture like chairs and desks, consider donating them to local schools. Equipment can also be donated to cut down on e-waste. If you are looking to update electronics like computer hardware, printers, or any other gadgets, donate them to businesses or individuals that might need them instead of tossing them away as garbage. Big businesses like hotels can also donate items such as shampoos, soaps, toiletries, and skincare products.
2. Go Paperless
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In most businesses, the largest amount of waste is derived from printing files and documents. As such, reducing the amount of printing can be a positive initial step towards addressing the garbage problem. There are various steps that businesses need to do to achieve this. The first one involves going paperless. This means minimizing printing and using online files and documents as much as possible.
For instance, digital versions of documents that are widely used in business such as policies and procedures are either stored in a shared server or online. Alternatively, businesses can cut down on their printing by encouraging their teams to only print documents when it is absolutely necessary. Where hard copies of documents have to be printed, printing should be done on both sides of the paper, with font sizes and margins reduced to cut down on the number of printing pages that have to be printed.
To reduce ink use, businesses can encourage printing to be done in draft mode or in black and white to cut down on the ink volume required to print documents in color. Service providers can also cut down on paper use by implementing paperless billing.
3. Adopting Reusable Alternatives
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Opting for reusable items is another innovative solution that companies and households can adopt to address the worsening garbage problem. At the workplace, employees can replace stuff they use regularly with reusable items. A great example is food and drink packaging. Kitchens, both at homes and workplaces can adopt sustainable reusable solutions such as replacing disposable cups with reusable water bottles and coffee mugs. In offices, employees may be encouraged to use reusable containers and avoid plastic wares to curb plastic waste.
4. Recycling Waste
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When it comes to managing solid waste, recycling takes the center stage. If you have garbage that can be recycled and used in a different form, recycling is your best bet to address garbage problems. The beauty of this approach is that it reduces the number of waste materials that end up in incinerators and landfills.
Moreover, recycling waste enables businesses and households to save time that would otherwise have been spent in disposing of the garbage. It also helps to provide materials that can be used to generate new products. This not only conserves the environment; it also extends the lifespan of recycled materials significantly.
Businesses can help build a culture of recycling and reusing garbage by encouraging waste separation. The easiest way to do this is to provide bins for reusable materials like glass and plastics, and recyclable trash such as paper.
5. Embracing Green Disposal Options
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This is perhaps the most innovative solution that’s been developed with the goal of curbing the growing garbage problems. But before going green, businesses or households that want to recycle their items must first find people or businesses in their area that can provide green disposal services.
For instance, beauty companies like salons and makeup studios can send empty containers to companies that specialize in recycling them. Restaurants that sell wine can send their wine corks to companies that either repurposes them or grind them to create new materials. Hotels can send their used gift cards and unusable key cards to companies that can make better use of them instead of filling garbage bins.
6. Turning Biodegradable Waste Into Compost
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Every home or business generates substantial amounts of biodegradable waste every so often. Instead of throwing food waste materials in bins and trash cans, households and businesses can compost biodegradable waste to produce organic fertilizer. To start with composting, place the waste on a covered compost bin to keep flies off and avoid unwanted odor.
There are biodegradable wastes that can be composted and some that can’t be composted. Compostable biodegradable waste includes food scraps like fruit peelings, vegetables, eggshells, coffee grounds, and coffee filters. Papers that have been soiled by food like paper towels, paper bags, uncoated food paper, boxes, and napkins can also be composted.
On the other hand, greasy food scraps, dairy products, chicken, meat, and fats cannot be composted. Plants with diseases, insects, or insecticide residues should not be composted.
Final Thoughts
The amount of garbage that piles up every day around the world is astounding, and it just keeps multiplying each day. If not managed properly, garbage can pose serious environmental problems that may be irreversible. While there are organizations that are doing all they can to help curb the issue, making small changes in your lifestyle, even just by yourself, will accumulate into a significant amount over the years.
