The things we buy and throw away
You may have heard of the 3 R's, and no we're not speaking pirate; we're talking reduce, reuse, recycle. It turns out that Manchester is doing it right. This year, we managed to slim our waste lines by over 74,000 tonnes (Greater Manchester Combined Authority, 2023), the equivalent of over 1,500 trams!
Reducing the amount we waste means that more of our stuff is lasting us longer and then being given a second life at recycling centres when we’re done with it.
Besides separating out the rubbish that can be recycled or composted instead of going to landfill, there’s a lot of potential to avoid unnecessary waste altogether when we take great care of the things we own.
Switching to a reusable coffee cup (to stack up discounts at local cafés instead of single-use disposables), tapping into slow fashion to repair or restyle the clothes in our wardrobes before buying new (the guaranteed best deal you’ll find), fixing old furniture and donating our old devices to fight e-waste and inequality in access – all these positive actions help us to get the most out of the things we buy and do our bit for the planet.
A big bonus? When it comes to reducing waste, most of the actions we take will actually put money back in our pockets for more useful things: in 2021 almost half of us in the UK bought new clothes once a month, spending £133.06 on average (WRAP). That’s just under £1600 a year you could save or spend on a staycation or two instead!
Check out these simple tips for making your stuff go further
Explore our projects linked to clothes and other things we buy:
Get inspired with some Stories We Love:
Discover our in depth toolkits and guides:
Clothes Swap Toolkit
Explore our toolkit, created with Future Fashion Fair, to learn how to run your own clothes swaps!
Our school uniform guide
Find out how you can make your children’s school uniform last longer.
6 hidden plastics in your home!