Wasting less24 May 2010
Everything we buy or use has an impact on the natural world - from cans of baked beans to fridges.
We'll have to use and waste less in the future if we want to keep our planet healthy.
Three-planet problem
If everyone lived as we do in the UK, we'd need 3 planets.
But we're not here to make you feel guilty - we just have to be smarter with our stuff:
- Reduce
Only buying what we need - Reuse
Find new ways to use the things we throw away - Recycle
Better facilities for turning old stuff into new goods
And if we do all of that - we'll be using up less of our planet's precious resources.
Taking it further
Working together with people like you we've already persuaded the Government to make recycling easier. It's why you have a green box collection.
Did you know?
If everyone in the UK stopped throwing food away we'd cut climate-changing emissions by the equivalent of taking one in every five cars off the road.
But we've got a long way to go to beat some other countries. For example, Flanders, Belgium recycles more than 70% of its waste. That's around twice as much as the UK.
Incineration
Burning rubbish for energy is promoted by some as the answer to our waste problem.
But in fact incineration causes climate change and destroys valuable materials that could be turned into new products.
Read more about alternatives to incineration.
Friends of the Earth says:
- Europe should stop using more than its fair share
- The Government must phase out the burying and burning of waste
- Councils need to make it easier for us to recycle
And what we buy causes problems in some of the most vital parts of our planet - the forests.
© GettyImages
