1. Become a RAKtivist – Do little things to ‘pay it forward’ as a Random Acts of Kindness activist – leave change in the parking meter, give out free hugs, pick up groceries for a neighbour.

2. Have a declutter day – If you don’t love it loads or use it often, donate it to a charity shop.

3. Rediscover the fun of the playground – Jump rope, hopscotch, duck duck goose, hide and seek, limbo, leapfrog, stuck in the mud – PLAY!

4. Grow from scraps – Give your fruit and veg another lease of life. There are great beginner guides online to get you started!

5. Take it outside – Take your next meeting, lesson or catch–up outside. Remember, there’s no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing!

6. Organise a shared lunch – Everyone brings a dish and you eat together. You’ll get an amazing spread and think of the sandwich wrapper waste you’ll avoid.

7. Set up a book-swap shelf – Got a spare shelf at work, school or in your local pub? Ask if it can be turned into a book-swap shelf. Give away your books and pick up something new to read 

8. Organise a street party – Get together with neighbours and plan an afternoon of activities for all. Check with your local council about road closure procedures and permissions.

9. Have a go at upcycling – Turn something old or unused into something new and usable. Broken umbrellas can become saddle covers, cheese graters can become earring holders – get imaginative!

10. Support your local library – Rather than buying that book/film/cd you are after why not borrow it from your local library instead?

11. Make a pinecone birdfeeder – Hang it near a window so you can birdwatch too!

12. Scoot to school – Micro-scooters are more fun than walking and more eco-friendly than a car.

13. Give collaboratively – Club together to get a lasting gift – save money and wrapping paper!

14. Be intergenerational inspirational – Your grandparents or children can help you see the world in a different way – what skills and stories can you share?

15. Organise a walking bus – Get to work or school on foot and pick up your colleagues or classmates en route – a little fresh air and exercise make a great start to the day!

16. Support a local community project – Get in touch with your local volunteer bureau and find a project that needs some help.

17. Have a photography competition – Create a list of things or themes to photograph, such as ‘favourite local green space’ or ‘best place to relax’, or ‘neighbourhood’ and ‘sharing’. Have fun comparing your results!

18. Sleep under canvas – Even if it’s only in your back garden, get the tent out and spend a night under the stars.

19. Have a fix-it party – Got a pile of stuff you’ve been meaning to fix? Gather the things you’ll need and invite your friends over for a fix-it Check out YouTube for tutorials on how to fix almost anything.

20. Make a home for wildlife – Make a bird box, bug hotel or a hedgehog shelter. It’s easier than you think and you can get advice online from theBBC or the RSPB. 

21. Build a bottle rocket – There are plenty of tutorials online. Too easy? Have a competition with friends – who can make their rocket go the highest? Be safe!

22. Gift a tree – A great alternative to conventional presents – try the National Forest or Woodland Trust.

23. Darn it – There was a time when most people knew how to darn. Check out YouTube tutorials or find a friend or family member who can teach you and give those socks a new lease of life!

24. Get gardening – Even if you’ve only got space for one pot, you can garden. Why not try growing herbs on your windowsill or looking after a spider plant? You can find some great beginner tips and tricks

25. Spend an evening by candlelight

26. Pledge to have zero waste lunches – Think about how much packaging you get with a lunch bought out. Pledge to have zero waste lunches for the week – bring in your own from home or sit-in to eat.

27. Arrange a themed movie night – Invite friends over and watch a movie, follow it with a discussion. We recommend the Minimalism Documentary, My Stuff Movie or Black Fish.

28. Get a teapot or coffeepot for work – A teapot or coffee pot is a great addition to the office! It’s sociable and the kettle will only be boiled once.

29. Ditch the disposables – Try to go a whole day or the entire week without using disposables.

30. Preserve and pickle – Gather old glass jars and fill them with delicious and long-lasting preserves and pickles – there are loads of recipes online. They make excellent gifts too 

31. Create a new game (no purchases allowed) – Remember making up games as a child? Have fun creating a new game using things you’ve got at home.

32. Get inventive, Masterchef-style! – Get together with friends to see who can create the best dish from all your leftovers and what’s already in your cupboards!

 

33. Chit-chat for charity – Organise a coffee morning – get people baking, donating and chatting to raise funds for a local cause.

34. Patch it – Patch the holes in your jeans and tops rather than dispose of them – make the patch blend in for a ‘good as new’ look or go bold and make a statement!

35. Share your skills – Can’t cook but can play the guitar? Get together with others to swap your skills.

36. Get your office growing – Plants are a great addition to the office – they encourage a positive and healthy atmosphere so get planting with colleagues. Herbs are easy to grow and can be used in your lunches! 

37. Play team sports – Organise a game of football or ultimate frisbee in the park with friends or colleagues.

38. Lift-share – This week, try to make no journeys in the car alone. You’ll be reducing your environmental impact and have someone to chat to. Too easy? Travel further afield using a scheme like Blablacar.

39. Make a puppet or sock monkey – Odd socks? Try upcycling them into the ultimate toy/mascot/desk companion.

40. Love your local park, river or beach – Go to your local park, river or beach and show it some love. Are there any Green Flag parks or Blue Flag beaches near you?

41. Join a choir – We have a great choral tradition – it is sociable, creative, keeps your brain active and it is great fun!

42. Give a hen a home – Contact the British Hen Welfare Trust to give a hen a free-range future. Over half a million re-homed hens to date!

43. Try geocaching – Use a GPS-enabled device such as a mobile phone to treasure hunt for geocaches near you. There are over 2.5 million globally!

44. Eat seasonably – Seasonal fruit and veg need less artificial input, have less environmental impact, taste better and are often cheaper. Check out your local market, grocer or food store and don’t be afraid to ask if it’s in season.

45. Make a musical instrument – Make a rain-stick using lentils, a guitar using plastic bands or a tambourine using bottle tops. Too easy? Form a home-made instrument band and record a song!

46. Buy local – Try buying local for a day. Using local businesses instead of chains is great way of supporting local jobs and investing more money back into the local economy.

47. Organise a spoken word or unplugged music night – Why not get in touch with Sofar Sounds and host a gig in your living room?

48. Set up a stuff library – Need a drill for that DIY project? Bored of your DVD collection? Set up a real or virtual library to share the things you have, helping everyone’s stuff get used more and gather less dust.

 

49. Harvest rainwater – Make a DIY rainwater harvester to collect rainwater for use on your lawns and gardens. Too easy? Why not install a more permanent domestic rainwater harvesting system?

50. Join your local transition town – ‘Transition towns’ are grassroots groups aiming to increase self-sufficiency to reduce environmental impact. Check out the one in Totnes.

51. Buy milk from the milkman – Fewer plastic bottles and more reusable glass. Why not get your orange juice from the milkman too 

52. Scrub naturally – Use sugar, sea-salt or oatmeal to make your own microbead-free exfoliant – there are plenty of tutorials online.

53. Food-share – Become a food philanthropist and grow food to donate to local charity partners.

54. Row, row, row your boat – Gently down the stream.

55. Organise a Big Tidy Up – Visit the Big Tidy Up website and order a kit to get you started.

56. Be a lover, not a leaver – In restaurants a lot of food is wasted through preparation, spoilage and what’s left behind on the plate. If you’re eating out, commit to asking for a doggy bag and LOVE those leftovers!

57. Yarn-storm your garden – Decorate your garden with colourful knitted or crocheted yarn installations.

58. Do a bug hunt – Join the Big Bug Hunt or just see which creepy crawlies you can find in your garden or local park.

 

59. Join a veg-box scheme – Fresh organic veg delivered straight to your door to help you eat in-season and get creative in the kitchen.

 

60. Stargaze – You don’t need any special equipment and a good place to stargaze might be closer than you think, even if you live in an urban area. There are lots of free guides online, including the Dark Sky Discovery’s website.

 

61. Go zero waste – Try to produce no waste for a day.

 

62. Host your own DIY Olympics – Use what you have to make hurdles and javelins, toss bean bags and relay with buckets – the possibilities are endless… Don’t forget to make medals for the winning team!

 

63. Go paperless – Think before you print, switch to paperless billing – you’ll never have to open a bill again (well not a paper one anyway!)

 

64. Make a cork memo board – Collect wine corks and upcycle them into a functional and stylish cork board in just a couple of hours.

 

65. Fly a kite – Get yourself up the nearest hill and enjoy the simple pleasure of flying a kite. Too easy? Make your own kite from recycled materials and fly, fly away!

  

66. Buy nothing – When was the last time you went a whole day without buying a single thing? Give yourself, the planet and your wallet a day off.

 

67. Have a (non-computer) games night – Get out board games or a pack of cards and have an evening of fun together.

 

68. Go walkies! – Borrow a dog from a family member, friend or neighbour for the day – they make great companions for a walk!

69. Re-love some stuff – Check out a local car-boot sale or charity shop – enjoy the thrill of finding a bargain or unexpected treasure!

70. Go for a bike ride – If you haven’t got a bike, why not borrow or hire one, take a nice ride in your local park or explore your local neighbourhood using pedal power!

71. FoodCycle – Find your local FoodCycle Hub, where communities unite to make sure no good food is wasted, and get involved.

72. Race to save water – Challenge family members and flatmates to keep showers to less than three minutes. Who can be in and out the fastest 

73. Become a citizen scientist – Join project like the British Trust for Ornithology Survey – collaborate with other members of the public and professional scientists to collect and analyse data about the world around us. 

74. Plan an overland holiday – Pick somewhere on your wanderlust list but don’t get on a plane – go by boat or train and make it a real adventure.

75. Host a ‘jumble trail’ – Like a car boot sale but along your street, communities coordinate to set up stalls outside their houses to sell bric-a-brac, toys, vintage clothes and cakes.

76. Create unique reusables – Organise a workshop get the people involved in customising their own canvas shopping bags or water bottles to take home and use.

77. Share a bath

78. Organise a ‘Give and Take’ day – Give or take days are a great way of getting rid of items that you don’t need, and taking items you do. Left over items can be donated to local charity shops.

79. Make your own – These days we can pop into a shop or go online and buy almost anything we like. This week, commit to making your own – bake real bread or make a gift for a friend.

80. Arrange a scavenger hunt – split into teams and see which team can capture the most photos from a list of miscellaneous objects.

 

81. Get crafty with bottle caps – There are loads of creative ways to reuse your beer bottle caps or milk bottle caps.

82. Theme your next book group – Pick a book with an interesting social or environmental theme such as The Spirit Level and 10 Billion for discussion at your next session.

83. Green your roof – Whether it’s a few pots on a flat office roof or getting a professional to waterproof your shed roof and cover it in vegetation – make the most of space available and bring nature closer to home.

84. Go dairy-free – Cut out cheese, cream, butter, milk and eggs for a day. Too easy? Why not try and last the whole week?

85. Do good, get fit – Join the Good Gym – a group of community-minded runners that combine regular exercise with helping those in need 

86. Create your family tree – Get together with family members to map it out and share memories using photos you have around the house.

87. Go birdwatching – There are lots of apps available to help you identify birds from their calls or appearance. How many different species can you spot?

88. Get together to doodle, paint, sketch, draw… – Get together and whip out the colouring pencils, pens and paints. Get messy and creative!

89. Break the bag habit – Stop using single use bags and invest in a nicer reusable alternative.

90. Forage – September is a great month to forage for nuts, berries and other delicious treats. Guides online will help you identify safe produce. Remember to leave plenty for wildlife and check local bylaws on foraging before you set out!

91. Visit your nearest green open home – The National Network for Low-carbon Open Homes enables you to visitopen homes in your area to see what others have done to become more energy efficient.

92. Build a den – indoors or outdoors.

93. Plug-out – Turn off the wifi, phone and all other electronic devices for a day and fill your time with other waste less, live more activities. We don’t want to hear about this one on social media..!

94. Volunteer with your local Scouts / Guides group – Channel your inner Bear Grylls and contact the Scouts / Guides to offer your skills.

95. Make rubbish art – Get creative by making art and sculptures with recycled materials.

96. Go meat-free – Cutting down on meat is good for you, other people and the environment, so why not try going without meat for a day. Too easy? Why not try and last the whole week?

 

97. Try an outdoor gym – Outdoor gyms are springing up everywhere enabling people to exercise in the fresh air for free. Check with your local council website or the Great Outdoor Gym Company to find one near you.

98. Swish your clothes – Bring friends or colleagues together to swap items of clothing you no longer want and find yourself a new outfit.

99. Write and perform a song, poem or play – A great activity for children and adults alike and you might discover you’ve a talent you didn’t know you had.

100. Go swimming outdoors – Get down to your local lido or swimming ponds – enjoy!

101. Turn off the TV – Try going a whole evening without watching any TV. Too easy? Try the whole week!

 

…Phew! Happy Waste less, Live more Week 2016!

_{We have tried to ensure that all information provided in the Waste less, Live more Week Challenge was correct at the time of inclusion. We do not guarantee the accuracy of this information and we apologise for any errors. We take no responsibility for the content of third party websites that may be referenced in the Challenge. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them. If you have any problems with the site or wish to comment on the content, please contact us athello@wastelesslivemore.com. We accept no responsibility for any activity undertaken by you as part of the Challenge. Please seek professional advice regarding any of the activities where appropriate. We strongly recommend that if children are wishing to partake in Challenge activities, they should be supervised by a responsible parent/guardian for their own safety and well-being.}