About Yonge Nawe

Programmes

Resources

Press Information

Membership

Links

Search

Contact Us

Yonge Nawe celebrates Green Consumer Day on Saturday 28th September 2002. This global celebration highlights the problems of consumerism and its impact on the environment. This is an area of major concern in today’s global market orientated world.  Local initiatives by Yonge Nawe should focus primarily on awareness raising and the importance of recycling-reusing and reducing waste material. On Green Consumer Day, Yonge Nawe encourages individuals at a household level to: 

• Buy "green"i.e. products that can be decomposed, reused and are not harmful to the environment. The most important thing is to make a commitment to using less.
• Buy products that use minimal packaging. For example, choose products sold in bags rather than plastics. Packaging uses a significant amount of resources and contributes to our growing waste problem. Plastics are known to take between 20 and 1000 years to decompose. 
• Go shopping with your own bag
• Refuse to be given a plastic if you can carry your own products
• Reduce, reuse and recycle all waste 
• Reduce. Choose products that minimize waste. Avoid disposable products. E.g a shaving machine instead of disposable razors. 
• Reuse. Look for items that you can use for tasks other than that for which they were originally intended. E.g. Glass jars can be used to store jam and cereals.
• Recycle. Most household waste is potentially recyclable. The household contribution to recycling is a critical one involving basic changes in attitudes and habits. 
• Compost organic wastes. If you have a garden, create and maintain a compost pile to produce organic fertilizer from vegetable and fruit peels, leftovers, egg shells etc, and thus reduce the garbage that is thrown out.
• Shop with a conscience Give preference to only those products that are recycled, recyclable, reliable, repairable, refillable and/or reusable.