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Consumption and waste

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Consumption and waste

You can reduce your environmental impact by: 

  • buying less 
  • repairing broken products 
  • sharing and reusing what you already have 
  • avoiding items you will only use once 

The impact of consumption and waste on the environment 

  • 16% of a Camden resident’s environmental impact comes from buying new items for the home 
  • every year Londoners throw away 2 million tonnes of waste, enough to fill the Thames 
  • the government estimates that 5 million tonnes of plastic is used in the UK every year, nearly half of which is packaging. 

What can you do? 

Borrow items that you need to use instead of buying them 

Repair broken belongings instead of throwing them away 

Share, lend and borrow rather than buying items that you only need occasionally 

Donate good quality reusable furniture 

Repair broken electronics, and rethink how we consume them 

Refill empty food and drink containers to create less waste 

Reuse and recycle items