An Effective Guide to Reducing Household Waste: Bathroom Edition

If you pay close attention to your personal care, beauty, and general hygiene routine, you might be surprised to find that often there is more waste in your bathroom than anywhere else in the house! From shampoo bottles, shower gels, soap packaging, disposable razors to bathroom cleaners and toilet rolls, our bathrooms are packed with recyclables!

Even though we all use toiletries, personal care items and bathroom cleaners on a daily basis. When it comes to reducing household waste, we find bathroom waste often tends to get overlooked. It’s important to understand how and where to dispose of your bathroom waste correctly.

Below we have outlined some excellent tips and techniques for creating a low waste, eco-friendly bathroom.

Reorganise & Declutter

The fewer products you have in your bathroom, the less waste you will produce!

• Every now and then dedicate time to reorganise and rearrange all your cosmetics, personal care items and toiletries. So, you know what you need/use regularly and keep them easy to reach.
• Dispose of the items that you do not need or the ones that have expired

Use Biodegradable Products

• Instead of using plastic combs and brushes, opt for a biodegradable bamboo or wooden toothbrush/hairbrush. You can find wooden/bamboo combs and brushes that are all-natural, biodegradable and very chic!
• Instead of buying shampoos and soaps in plastic bottles, switch to using soap bars and shampoo cars. This is way is eco-friendlier and more cost-effective compared to using liquid soap, shampoos and shower gels that come in plastic containers and non-recyclable plastic pumps.
• You can also go a step further and look for organic, palm oil free soaps made from all-natural ingredients with compostable packaging.
• If you are someone with a regular makeup or skincare routine, then you know it is quite common to use up cotton pads per day and throwing them away after use. Instead, we recommend using reusable cotton makeup removal pads, which can be washed along with your regular laundry. In fact, several make-up brands, reward you for recycling their old products which might also be worth looking into.

Shop Smart

• Most beauty products & toiletries, tend to come with excessive plastic packaging including cardboard boxes, sometimes even the ones that say are eco-friendly!
• Instead of purchasing these products, opt for products that come with sustainable, compostable, or biodegradable packaging materials, corrugated bubble wrap, biodegradable foam beads etc. With boxes or bubble wrap, it is always a good idea to re-use them where possible.

Understand what you can recycle

The good news is that almost all your bathroom waste items can in fact be recycled. Here is a list of the items that can (and should) be recycled from your bathroom:

• Shampoo, conditioner & shower gel Bottles
• Hand soap bottles (reuse or remove the pump dispenser as you cannot recycle it)
• Cardboard boxes, e.g., toothpaste or soapboxes
• Bathroom cleaner and bleach bottles
• Toilet roll tubes
• Deodorant lids

Note: Items such as nappies, toilet rolls, wipes, cotton wool CANNOT be recycled and would have to be disposed of in the general waste bin (black Barna bin)
Remember, all items being recycled must be clean, dry, and loose. So, make sure to rinse out any bottles and containers before popping them into your recycling bin. You can also check What Goes in My Blue Bin if you are unsure of items that you can recycle.

Visit our website If you would like more information on where to dispose of certain items or would like to order a skip, give our team a call today on 091 771619.

Barna Recycling’s Top Tips for Waste Awareness & Disposal

The best way to effectively manage waste is by using fewer resources, reducing consumption, and buying less. Here at Barna Recycling, we are always trying to find ways to educate our customers on the steps they can take to minimise household waste daily. It all starts with understanding what items go where.

Below we have outlined some smart tips to help you to reduce your bin costs and be environmentally friendly when it comes to waste management for each bin type.

General Waste Bin

Generally, this bin is for any waste items that you CANNOT put into your recycling or organic such as Ashes, Tin foil, paint, non-recyclable plastic, food wrappers.

• ALWAYS remember NOT to include any kind of liquids in your general waste bin
• ALWAYS ensure you separate the packaging to segregate out the food waste and recyclable materials such as envelopes, milk cartons, newspapers. This way, you are saving costs, maximising space, and making sure that you are not overloading your general waste bin.
• Use a reusable lunchbox to store your food instead of cling film or tinfoil.
• Should you have additional waste to dispose of, such as extra bags or cardboard boxes, please make sure you let our office know beforehand. This is so we can inform the people collecting your waste, so they can watch out for the bags at the right house. (Sometimes non-customers leave waste alongside customers bins).

Click here for the full list of items that cannot go into your black bin.

Food waste/Compost bin

Below are some of our top tips for reducing food waste at home.

• Always Shop Smart – write a shopping list before you head to the grocery store and stick to only purchasing items on the list!
• Plan your meals – Create a meal plan for the week and meal prep in advance to save time
• Make sure fruit and vegetables are stored correctly. Use your freezer as much as possible

Green Waste – Grass, leaves and hedge clippings

Green waste can be disposed of in your compost bin along with your organic food waste. Home Composting is an excellent way to get the most out of your organic food as well as your green garden waste. It reduces the need to collect, process, treat and/or dispose of biodegradable materials and can be used as a potting mix for your garden, as it is rich in nutrients and is great for soil health. Check out our useful guide on composting to get started!

Recycling bin

You can check What Goes in My Blue Bin if you are unsure of items that can be recycled

• Break down larger items such as boxes and squash them down, before putting them into the bin.
• Food containers must be clean, dry and loose in your recycling bin.
• Utilise reusable bags while shopping to help limit plastic waste and always look for items with recyclable, sustainable packaging options
• DO NOT use black bags in the recycling bin otherwise, your bins may not be emptied.

Here is a list of recycling and non-recyclable packaging:

Packaging Material	Recyclable Y/N	Information
Cardboard	Y	This can be disposed of in your recycling bin, however, ensure you remove as much packaging tape as you can first.
Bubble Wrap	N	This is not currently recyclable and should be placed in your general waste bin.
Padded Envelopes	N	Not recyclable due to the presence of bubble wrap. Put this in your general waste bin.
Polystyrene Foam	N	This should be placed in the general waste bin.
Paper	Y	Make sure items are clean, dry, and placed loosely in the bin.
Envelope	Y	Most envelopes are ok to recycle, however, if it contains a window then this type of envelope will need to be placed in the general waste bin.
Sellotape	N	This should be placed in the general waste bin. Small amounts are OK to add to the recycle bin but, if possible, try to remove it

If you have large volumes of general, recyclable, or organic waste, you could always bring them to one of our seven civic amenity sites across Connacht to dispose of them at a reduced cost. Click here for more information on our civic amenity sites.

If you would like more information on where to dispose of certain items or would like to order a skip give our team a call today on 091 771619.