Year after year, tonnes of waste are deposited in landfills possibly ahead of their effective lifespan had they been reused, recycled, or donated. Unwanted items at home can be re-purposed, so it’s imperative to think of options for reuse before throwing them away.

Certain packaging, such as kitchen rolls and cereal boxes, can be given to schools to be used in arts and crafts projects. Other similar items can be a convenient packing material to store items.

Old clothes can be reclaimed into other useful textiles. One can also opt to donate old clothes, which can be done through charity organisations and local councils. Clothes that are not in good condition can be recycled and used to produce new clothes or utilised as insulation for products. In the case of jars and pots, these can be cleaned and re-used as containers according to the need.

Old or unwanted but functional electrical equipment can be donated to schools or community centres for re-use.

Electronic products have components that can fail or need to be upgraded. By fixing them, one can address this waste problem. Some opt to organise a car boot sale to clear unwanted items and raise funds for charity.

If items that are to be consigned to waste cannot be reused, it’s imperative to dispose them in a responsible way. Recyclable waste should be placed in the grey or green bags  collected from doorsteps.

Alternatively, one can dispose of sorted recyclables at one’s nearest bring-in site. If one’s locality collects organic waste separately, one can dispose of it in white/transparent bags that are collected three times a week.

Waste that cannot be disposed of in these ways should be taken to one of the six Civic Amenity Sites.

For more tips on how to reuse, visit http://dontwastewaste.gov.mt/ .