Giving Yourself an At Home Waste Audit

Auditing waste production at home for waste management

How much waste are you producing at home? Most people probably don’t know the exact answer, making it much harder to practice good waste management habits at home. If you’re looking to reduce the amount of waste you produce, start with a home waste audit. Here’s what you need to do.

Create a Weekly Tracker

Create a waste tracker for yourself that you can update each week. You don’t necessarily need to count every single wrapper or every single banana peel that you toss out, but it helps to categorize waste by where it’s produced. For example, if you realize that the majority of your waste comes from the kitchen, you can concentrate on reducing your kitchen waste before moving on to other rooms in your home.

woman thinking about waste management
Effective waste management requires a bit of planning and thinking ahead.

Categorize and Organize Your Waste

The best time to record the types and amount of waste you toss out is the day before waste pickup. You’ll already have everything organized, so categorizing everything will be much less work for you. Write down how much garbage, recycling, and compost you produce, and see if any patterns emerge over the course of a month.

After a month has passed, look at areas where you can improve your household waste management. If you notice that you produce large amounts of plastic, consider switching to household items that can be used more than once. If you notice that you produce large amounts of food waste, start a composting program. Look for ways where you can reduce, reuse, and recycle more often. Household waste management is all about being organized and aware of what you toss out on a daily basis.

After you’ve tossed out your waste, it will need to be properly removed from your property. Call the team at Sunrise Sanitation; we provide fast and effective residential waste removal services. 

Accessibility Toolbar