Think before you buy

Gifts

You can reduce waste by giving family or friends a gift experience instead of a product. For example, a gift certificate might be just the thing for someone who would like to begin a new hobby or try something new.

Gift certificate ideas:

• Dinner at a top restaurant
• Beauty salon or spa voucher
• Language lessons
• Sports classes/lessons
• National Trust Membership
• Passes to a museum or special exhibition
• Tickets to a play

Don't buy – hire

Hire tools or borrow from friends or family for odd jobs, rather than buying your own. Tools for Self Reliance will send your old tools to Africa.

You can also check websites like Freecycle and Freegle to see if anyone is giving away the very tool you are looking for!

Rechargeable batteries

Use rechargeable batteries and a battery charger. This saves energy because the energy needed to manufacture a battery is on average 50 times greater than the energy it gives out. While the rechargeable cells have a higher initial cost, rechargeable batteries can be recharged many times.

Using rechargeable battery system can reduce toxic materials sent to landfills compared to using disposable batteries. For example, some rechargeable batteries claim a service life of 100-1000 times more than a regular battery. However, rechargeable batteries are not suitable for smoke alarms as they tend to run out suddenly, preventing the alarm from warning when battery power is low.