Australia's War on Waste - 4 easy ways Australian families can reduce their waste and save money
It stands to reason; as the size of a family grow's so does the waste they produce but does it have to be this way? Well no, it just means everyone in the family needs to pitch in and look for as many innovative and creative ways to reduce waste as possible. ABC's War on Waste television series has recently highlighted the significant issues with waste in Australia and some of the great ideas to encourage positive changes to improve environmental outcomes and save money.
Read more about ABC's War on Waste HERE.
We all want to do our bit for the environment, reduce our carbon footprint, buy more eco-friendly products and live an active and healthy lifestyle while keeping an eye on the ever important family budget.
It's actually easier than you think to reduce waste, save money and have heaps of fun along the way!
Here's 4 easy steps your family can take to join Australia's War on Waste challenge and improve your family's budget at the same time.
- Buy Less, reduce consumption - ask yourself do I really need this? Do I already have an alternative at home?
- Buy Quality, do your research and buy the best you can afford - is buying cheap really good value in the long run? Will this end up in landfill in a short time OR last for years and be able to be passed down to the next generation?
- Join the Sharing economy, a great alternative to purchasing new - is buying new the only option? Could I borrow/ share some things I already have with neighbours or other like minded mums and dad's? **See the end of this Post for a couple of places to start.
- Recycle/ Repurpose/ Upcycle, don't dump it! What other uses does this have? Challenge yourself or the kids to come up with ideas or give away to other who do.
We've been on this journey for a number of years and have a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn't. Along the way we've learnt a lot, met some great people and shared some in depth discussions about how much better our kids future's (particularly the environment) could be if we all seriously get behind efforts to live more healthy, sustainable lives right now. This starts with how we shop today!
Read about our exciting war on waste journey by clicking HERE.
Within our family (and small wooden toy business) we have a simple Sustainability Pledge to: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle in that order. We've found this significantly reduces our environmental footprint, carbon emissions as well as saving money, not to mention the personal satisfaction of knowing we're improving the future environment for our kids (and yours) ensuring they have the opportunity to live in a world practising sustainable, ethical production and waste management.
Greg; greengrub's founder and woodworking artisan says: "Since starting greengrub Wooden Toys in early 2014 we're proud to have provided Australian families with a genuine, sustainable alternative for buying kids Toys by offering premium quality, ethically made, eco friendly, sustainable and minimally packaged Education Wooden Toys and Puzzles, including our own range made by Us right here in Brisbane."
Source: World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
It might seem crazy we're encouraging people to buy less, given we're an online retailer of kids wooden toys but we think it's more important to be a socially responsible and ethical retailer who understands the challenges our communities face and proactively works with everyone, not just our customers to improve things any way we can. Selling as much "cheap stuff" as we can, to as many people as possible today with no consideration for longer term environmental, financial or health impacts on families isn't the way we operate.
We don't support this high volume, poor quality, throw away thinking and encourage as many different options to get away from this as possible to reduce items going to landfill. Sometimes this means mums and dad's buying less, borrowing or re-purposing and if that's the best option, that's ok with us!
When families do make the decision to buy quality new wooden toys or puzzles, our genuine alternative to the mainstream, mass produced, limited service toy retailers (often also overseas owned) has been well received and we've been both motivated and humbled by the support and encouragement we've received from our lovely customers and suppliers over this time.
One of the easiest way to reduce waste is Buying Smart - our families hand picked range of safe, high quality, sustainable Wooden Toys and Puzzles make "buying smart" for kids toys easy. Check out our range of sustainable, eco friendly wooden Activity Toys and Games by clicking HERE.
We look forward to providing many more years of exceptional customer service combined with what we believe to be the safest, most sustainable and engaging Wooden Toys and Puzzles available in Australia. Our dedication to your children's safety and protection of their natural environment in the future extends beyond our eco friendly toys to our delivery as well. Our courier's offset 100% of their carbon emissions giving you comfort both your Wooden Toy or Jigsaw Puzzle as well as the Delivery is supporting a clean and safe future environment for your kids.
Join Australia's War on Waste - Buy Less, Buy Quality, Share and finally Recycle!
**Here's just 3 great examples of easy ways to tackle the War on Waste (and save you money) by "sharing", check out these sites:
- Kinder Share - Grandparents, have you got interstate little ones visiting and need a pram or child seat short term? Check out Kinder Share HERE instead of buying something you wont need after a few weeks.
- Brisbane Tool Library - Dad's, do you need some tools for that DIY Job and wont ever use them again? Check out Brisbane Tool Library by clicking HERE to browse a range of quality tools for loan.
- The Volte - Mum's to be, do you have a night out to with the girls coming up to celebrate the imminent arrival? Browse designer dresses at The Volte by clicking HERE to look stylish without adding something to the wardrobe you wont wear again.