Don’t Let Your DIY Waste Materials Pile Up 

Have you ever undertaken a DIY project which has created more mess and leftover materials than you were expecting? Sometimes this come from buying too much material or generating more waste than expected when stipping a house or room out. All of this material needs to go somewhere, so it is vital to plan ahead when it comes to a complex DIY project.

Health and Environmental Risks

The risks presented by letting waste pile up from your renovation or redecoration projects pile up is not limited to it being an eyesore. It can present a real danger to your health, the health of your neighbors and to local wildlife. Here are some ways that this trash can seriously affect both nature and your family:

 1. Spread airborne and contact diseases

2. Pollute the local water supply

3. Pollute soil in the locality

4. Create toxic leachate

5. Attract vermin and flies

6. Create a bad smell in the neighborhood

7. Create or enhance mental health issues such as depression

 What You Can Do

There is plenty that you can do in order to prevent this from happening. When undertaking a DIY project which will lead to significant amounts of waste material – organic or inorganic, it is important to plan ahead. There are 5 main ways you can do this:

 1. Recycle: Many things can be recycled including clean plastics, metals, paper and cardboard which has not contained cooked food, and so on. Some organic materials can be composted while others can be taken to recycling centers.

 2. Reuse or Repurpose: Not suitable for everything, but many materials from carpet to clothing, scrap wood to some containers can be reused as new items around the house or for sale. This only applies to non-toxic materials and nothing which has previously contained such materials.

 3. Regular Trash: A lot of the smaller rubbish can be put into your trash bins and collected by your regular collectors. Do follow their rules and only include what is permitted.

 4. Remove for Disposal or Hire a Skip: Not everything fits into one of the 3 above categories. In such circumstances it’s important to seek professional help. This can take the form of hiring a skip to dump waste materials in and have picked up, or hiring a waste disposal company to do the job for you. If you have your own appropriate transportation it is of course possible to take it to a government approved site for disposal as well.

 5. Sell for Scrap or Use: Some materials such as metals can be sold for scrap, whereas others might be sold for parts, for reuse, or for valuable materials inside. Leftover materials used during DIY projects may be sellable online or to merchants/small businesses for future use.