How Can Families Declutter and Recycle More in 2025

Are you looking to create a more eco-conscious home?

Almost 60% of British people want to minimise household food and plastic waste, cutting down on consumption to decrease their carbon footprint. This doesn’t have to take a lot of work, either.

There are plenty of simple ways you can improve your waste disposal and keep your home free of clutter, quickly boosting your household's sustainability.

To help you create a greener lifestyle, here are our tips on how to declutter your home and recycle more in 2025.

Look Into Recycling Schemes and Organisations

You might already know how to recycle glass and cardboard, but what about your old computer? Where do your shoes go when the soles are worn through?

Rather than throwing these items in the bin, look into alternative recycling schemes that can supplement your household recycling collections.

There are plenty of organisations that accept less frequently recycled items, repurposing them and taking some of the strain off our landfills. Your computer, for example, is perfect for IT recycling schemes, while you can also find recycling programmes for materials that aren’t currently collected at the roadside. The TerraCycle scheme is a great option for your old Pringles cans, dental products, crisp packets and other common household waste products.

If you’re looking to recycle an item we haven’t covered, a quick Google search will tell you more about how and where it can be recycled.

The UK’s Simpler Recycling Reforms

If you’ve found recycling in the UK to be a little confusing, you’ll be happy to hear that reforms are underway.

The Simpler Recycling reforms are designed to make it easier for households (and businesses) to get rid of waste sustainably. The plans include:

• Creating consistency around what can and can’t be recycled across councils.
  
  
• Making it mandatory that councils collect certain materials for recycling.
  
  
• Ensuring all homeowners have access to a food waste collection.
  
  
• Creating better recycling, food, and general waste schedules with a priority on increasing the frequency of recycling and food collections.
  
  
• A Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in which you’ll pay a small fee for certain items (like plastic bottles) that will be returned to you upon recycling of that item. Look at the Norwegian PANT system as a great example of how this might work.

Donate to Charity Shops

When decluttering your home, don’t forget to donate! By organising bags to take the charity shops, your actions will have a number of sustainable benefits, including:

• Reducing waste sent to the landfill
  
  
• Reducing the number of new items bought by other consumers
  
  
• Focusing on increasing the use of an item before throwing it away or recycling
  
  
• Contributing to a more circular economy (in which products are kept out of the landfill)

You’ll also be helping great charities with your donations, adding another ethical bonus to your choice.

Sell Your Clutter

If you’re looking for an incentive that’ll make decluttering your home easier, try selling your unwanted items. Who knows how much money your unwanted clothes, books, and home decor could make you?

There are tons of places you can sell your clutter in the UK. One of the most popular options is through online marketplaces and selling platforms, including:

• Depop - ideal for clothing
  
  
• Vinted - ideal for clothing
  
  
• Facebook Marketplace - a place to sell everything to your local community
  
  
• eBay - a place to sell everything to a national or global audience

These platforms make it simple to earn a bit of money as you create a more sustainable home, reducing your clutter and cutting back on overconsumption. Just remember to take clear pictures of your items, write engaging product descriptions, and ship quickly for great seller reviews.

Start Buying Consciously

Britain has a huge problem with over-consumption. As a country, we buy more clothes than any other in Europe, and our landfills are nearing capacity, signalling that it’s time for a change.

In 2025 (and beyond), you can kickstart your journey to reduce clutter and waste by buying less. Shop consciously, considering whether you actually need something before making a purchase, and try to avoid buying duplicates of products you already have.

A brilliant way to instantly reduce your consumption is to not make impulse purchases. Instead, sleep on it. If you can still see a legitimate need for the item the next day then go ahead, but if it was a spur-of-the-moment desire then you might have skipped an unnecessary purchase.

Easy Ways to Reduce Your Waste

Recycling drastically reduces the carbon emissions from your waste, making it a sustainable essential in your home. However, if you’re looking to make a huge difference in your household consumption, there’s no better option than cutting out unnecessary materials altogether.

By opting for the zero-waste choices, you can create a greener home that’s far less cluttered. Some great tips to get started include:

• Switching to paperless banking and bills.
  
  
• Buying loose, unpackaged products rather than packaged products (such as loose peppers rather than plastic-wrapped packs of 3).
  
  
• Replacing soap bottles with soap bars - including body wash, shampoo, and conditioner bars.
  
  
• Using reusable shopping bags or tote bags.
  
  
• Purchasing from zero-waste grocers to reduce packaging waste.
  
  
• Choosing loose-leaf tea instead of tea bags.
  
  
• Making your own cleaning products or fill old bottles with plastic-free cleaning drops.
  
  
• Switching paper subscriptions to digital subscriptions.
  
  
• Learning how to properly store fruits and vegetables so that they last longer (hint: add a piece of kitchen paper to your bags of spinach and the leaves will stay super fresh!).

Purchasing reusable alternatives to single-use products is one of the easiest ways you can cut down on waste and clutter in your home. Take a look at our On The Go Reusables range for plenty of eco-friendly inspiration. From coffee cups to food wraps, we have everything you need to reduce unnecessary household waste.

Final Thoughts

Learning how to declutter your home sustainably and recycle your waste is a fantastic way to create a more eco-friendly lifestyle. Hopefully, this article has given you plenty of tips to get started.