4 top tips for sustainable shopping
Cut waste, save cash, and help the planet with four simple shopping swaps: buy less, choose second-hand, repair more, and rehome what you don’t need.
Waste experts from the Biffa BDR Waste Partnership - which serves 345,000 households in Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham - are encouraging residents to rethink waste, starting with their buying habits.
The partnership is supporting a national campaign from the charity Keep Britain Tidy which urges the public to think beyond recycling by trying to prevent waste from being created in the first place.
Abi Reid is the Community Education Liaison Officer at the Biffa BDR Waste Treatment Facility - the award-winning operation which diverts 97 per cent of Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham’s household waste from landfill.
Abi said: “It’s fantastic that thousands of residents in Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham love to recycle their waste. Recycling is brilliant for the environment - but cutting down on the amount of waste produced in the first place is better.
“Just making some simple changes to your shopping habits can help preserve natural resources and reduce emissions, which is vital in the fight against climate change. It also means less waste and litter and can save you money too.
“Recycling remains a vital tool, but it’s just one part of the solution.”
- Have a ‘Buy Less’ mindset: Prioritising quality over quantity, only buying what you need.
- Swap the way you shop: Embrace pre-loved items, rent, hire or borrow instead of buying new, and swap for reusable alternatives. Buying second-hand removes the environmental costs of production and reduces waste.
- Use it again, and again… and again: Simple repairs and alterations to clothes can extend their life by years. Refurbishing old furniture can save money. Repair, repurpose and upcycle stuff instead of binning it, extending its life for months or even years to come.
- Rehome it: Pass items on through charity shops, online platforms or gift to friends and family or community groups before throwing them away. This gives items a chance to get a new lease of life!
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About Biffa
With over 100 years of expertise, Biffa is an established leader of sustainable waste management in the UK.
Our purpose is to change the way people think about waste and our team of more than 10,000 key workers provide unrivalled end-to-end waste and recycling solutions for thousands of businesses and millions of households each day.
Underpinned by our low carbon collection network, we’re at the forefront of enabling the UK circular economy by continuing to build our plastic recycling capacity, investing in energy recovery and growing the amount of surplus produce we redistribute through Company Shop.
Since 2002 we’ve cut our carbon emissions by 70% and aim to be net zero by 2050. Our long-standing Biffa Award programme and our proud partnership with WasteAid also contribute to major environmental benefits for the UK and beyond.
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