Eight ways to limit your ‘trash footprint’

Marloes van Amerom

So how can you diminish your amount of trash? Letting your goodies last longer or having them re-used is clearly key. Below follow some practical ways to dispose of frequently-used household items or waste products that can severely cause harm to the environment when chucked away. Tips intended to also help your pocket – or people in need.

Household goods
Around fifty-one kilos of edible food are thrown out per person in the Netherlands each year. While no one wants you ending up with food poison, there are several ways to limit your share. Soups are a great way to combine edible remains in your fridge. Or visit bbc. co.uk/food/recipes for inspiration. Upon ticking in your ingredients, numerous tasty recipes unfold. Your old slices of bread are tasty treats to park birds. Or fry them in butter on each side – after having dipped them in lightly beaten eggs and milk first. Add some cinnamon or sugar to make a Dutch ‘wentelteefje’. Yum!

Ok, cleaning agents are strictly not part of your trash until used up which might take a while. But even soap suds strain the environment. Buy a package of soda as a long-lasting and natural alternative, unless your house is excessively dirty. Use vinegar to de-chalk devices and plain sunshine to blanch your clothes, instead of harmful bleaching agents.

Avoid accumulation of plastic bags by investing in a durable shopping bag. Aldi supermarket sells one for just €0.35. Made of corn starch, the bag decomposes into water and compost in nature when chucked out.

Shaking seemingly empty ink cartridges can release stuck ink and frequently extends their life span. In town, hardware shop BCC collects empty cartridges for re-use and recycling to benefit the World Wide Fund for Nature’s polar program, alongside mobile phones. There is a cartridge refilling stall at Enschede’s market which is open every Tuesday and Saturday.

Durable goods
You can donate nearly anything – from books to computers to furniture – at ‘recycle’ shops such as Kringloopwinkel Het Goed on Lonnekerbrugstraat 99. Het Goed is one of the biggest and also has containers for clothes and shoes, including on campus (Bastille 48) and may even be able to collect stuff from your home (053-4332944). Monastery De Wonne in the city center houses homeless people and other vulnerable groups. This organization also welcomes your no-longer-wanted items.

Sell or exchange
For electronic devices and jewelry post notes on supermarkets’ notice boards or sell on Marktplaats.nl which is the Dutch equivalent of e-Bay and you must know Dutch to use it. The Pawn shop on the Beltstraat sells your valuable items for you; purchase receipts are requested. If you’re planning to buy a new refrigerator or another electronic device then bring in the old one and get a reduction in most electronics stores. Used mobile phones can be traded in at Media Market’s service desk.

Sell your unwanted books to book shop De Slegte which purchases popular and well-kept second-hand books when you bring them to the desk located at the stores’ top floor.

Clothing exchange parties are highly fashionable since the recession. The Women in Twente network (womenintwente.nl) sometimes organize them or why not organize one yourself?

Finally, recycling things in your household can further reduce your trash pile. Old towels can be used as great cleaning cloths, empty jars make excellent paperclip containers and spools of threads are well-liked cat toys. Just use your imagination and hey... doesn’t that garbage bag suddenly make for much lighter lifting already?