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It has been estimated that on average the modern household throws away one tonne of rubbish to landfill every year, and this figure is increasing every year. There are a number of reasons why modern societies produce so much rubbish and these include:
· Packaging – food hygiene regulations and the competitive nature of product advertising and placement has meant that in recent years food packaging has increased, and this combined with the greater reliance on convenience foods means that households now throw away more food packaging then ever before. Fortunately a large amount of this packaging is recyclable, so it can be processed and used again rather than just dumped in landfills.
· Affluence and Increasing Population – the average person is now much more well off than 50 years ago, and this means an overall greater consumption of not just food but all kinds of products from make up through to electrical equipment. This combined with the fact that the population is increasing around the world at a rapid rate all adds up to more rubbish for our household waste bins.
· Modern Materials – modern products are made from new materials that were not available in the pre-1950’s societies, and many of these new materials do not break down when they are put in ground, which is a less effective use of landfill space. Most of these new products such as polymers and plastics can be recycled and reused again though.

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There are so many ways to reuse plastic bags you should never need to throw any of them away, and even ripped or torn bags can be used for craft projects and other practical applications. Here are just a few easy ways in which you can reuse your plastic bags:
· If you are handy with knitting needles then you can cut up any worn or damaged plastic bags and then use the material to knit yourself a new, stronger plastic bag for carrying shopping in. To make the plastic yarn for your project cut the bags into spirals to get long strips of plastic, then use a spindle to turn your strips into a long length of yarn to knit with, and to attached two strips together just overlap the two ends and the spinning action will secure them together. Once you have your plastic yarn then pick out a simple shopping bag pattern and get knitting. Plastic yarn is surprisingly supple, strong and long lasting and this is an excellent way to turn damaged plastic bags back into a useful item again.
· Plastic shopping bags can be used to line your kitchen bin, and this can not only save you money on buying bin liners but it also means you will be putting your plastic bags to another use before throwing them away.
· In Store Recycling – most supermarkets now offer ‘in-store’ plastic bag recycling and this is a good way to recycling large amounts of plastic bags that you may have built up in your cupboards.

Recycling nappies is actually an old concept, as before disposable nappies were widely available most parents had to use cloth nappies for their babies which could be washed and reused any number of times. Although this can seem like a chore, it is much better for the environment for you to cut down on use of disposable nappies as these account for a large percent of all landfill waste and on average over 8 million nappies are thrown away in the UK alone every day. Disposable nappies can take up to 500 years to decompose, and not only can you save on waste by using cloth nappies but you could also save as much as £500 a year, as you will not have to buy expensive nappies only just to use them once and then throw them away.

If you do want to use cloth nappies then it is a good idea to have a tumble dryer as you can go through a fair number of nappies a day and you will need to be able to wash and dry them quickly so that you don’t run out.