This Christmas season, Wollongong City Council is reminding residents of the importance of waste management in their home. Council would like to encourage all residents to avoid, reuse and recycle where possible.

There are many ways that locals can practice being waste wise this time of year. Food makes up around half of the waste in residents red top garbage bins. Australians throw away an estimated three million tonnes of food each year, which is a staggering amount. 

Council’s Manager of Environmental Planning and Strategy, David Green, said it is easy for all families to be sustainable.

“By simply creating a compost or worm farm in the backyard for any left over fruit and vegetable scraps from the festive celebrations every family can play their part,” said Mr Green.

“It’s important to reduce the amount of organic matter such as food waste, which is currently being sent to landfill each year. When organic material breaks down in landfill, it releases methane, a greenhouse gas with over 20 times the global warming capacity of carbon dioxide.”

“This is the time of year when consumption is at its greatest, so it’s even more important at Christmas time to plan ahead and only buy what you need.”

Many electrical presents are expected to be received this Christmas and Council asks all residents to be responsible when disposing of old or broken electrical items.

“If you find you have electronic waste you no longer need, remember these items can now be placed out as part of the trial On-Call Household Cleanup Service, which runs until 30 June 2011. Residents can call Council or register on line to book their On-Call trial Household Cleanup Service,” said Mr Green.

If residents have some spare time after Christmas, a fun activity for the whole family is to cleanout unwanted items and host a garage sale. An easy reference guide for everything you need to know to hold your own garage sale can be found at www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au  - simply follow the links to Household Services.