Further to this, growing as much food as you can is a wonderful way to stay healthy and reduce unnecessary packaging. I don’t have much room in my courtyard though, so I at least try to prepare as much of the food I eat as possible, making meals and other consumables (such as oat milk) from scratch, which also helps keep packaging to a minimum. Having a herb garden at home is an easy win and is a gift that keeps on giving. I’ve included a few images of resident veggie patches at Bush Heritage reserves around Australia to show how you can grow produce just about anywhere!
It's always worth being mindful of our packaging choices, and the Rs (refuse, reduce, reuse, repair and recycle) are still as useful today as when they were conceived. Buying items in bulk is helpful where possible, especially from vendors that allow you to use either your own containers, or reusable containers they provide.
Replace plastic bags you use for fruit and vegetables with reusable mesh or string bags, and of course, always bring grocery bags from home. Any bag will do! Soft plastics can be hard to completely avoid though unfortunately. Councils often have pretty comprehensive guides for how to dispose of products if you need to.
While there have been setbacks in recycling systems in Australia of late, we're still very lucky with what we have available to us, and these crises provide us all with opportunities to discover what we can do better on both a small and large scale.
Some other handy hints include excluding single-use items, such as cotton tips, as well as sourcing biodegradable options for household items such as toothbrushes, and only using washable cleaning cloths.
Repairing clothes and household goods can extend their lives and keep them out of landfill. Repair cafes are an amazing resource for this. They're run by volunteers and are scattered across the country. I’ve taken many items of clothing to learn how to repair them (holes etc.) instead of discarding them, plus there’s usually folks who are good with electronics and other repairable stuff too (some things just need a broken wire to be soldered).
So wherever you may be on your recycling journey, good luck!