Living in a city that provides free refuse collection to businesses can be a big help to day cares. However, if your day care is producing a lot of waste, the city's limits on how much they're willing to collect can be a big source of stress. If you're struggling to keep your waste low enough to qualify for free collections, here are 3 ways to tackle the problem.

Cut Down on Food-Related Waste

In most day care centres, food and food packaging account for a significant percentage of waste. While it's impossible to eliminate all food waste completely, you may be able to reduce it enough to meet your city's refuse collection limit. If parents provide lunch and snacks at your day care, one of the best ways to keep rubbish down is to encourage them to send their child's food and drinks in reusable containers. Implementing a healthy eating program can also reduce packaging waste because, unlike crisps and biscuits, fresh fruit and vegetables don't require commercial packaging. If you're the ones providing food to the children you look after, try to reduce uneaten meals by monitoring serving sizes, choosing dishes that the children enjoy and ordering smaller and more frequent quantities of perishables.

Use Paper and Plastic for Craft Activities

One of the most fun ways to reduce the amount of rubbish you're producing is to use old packaging and other waste materials as craft supplies. Paper towel rolls, newspaper, plastic bottles and cardboard boxes can all form the base for a hands-on art activity. Search online for ideas or ask children to come up with their own designs. Since the majority of children take their day care makes home, you won't have to worry about throwing them away anymore. Alongside keeping your rubbish at a reasonable level, this is also a great way to develop kids' motor and creativity skills and keep parents happy.

Use a Private Rubbish Removal Company

If you've followed the advice above but your refuse is still over the city's limit for collection, don't fear. You can always use the services of a private rubbish removal company alongside your free collections. Rubbish removal services can stop by and pick up your rubbish as often as you need them too, keeping your facility (and the nearby streets) clear of bin bags and reducing the stress that comes with city collection limits. These companies can also provide skip bins for periods when you need to shift larges amount of rubbish, such as end-of-year clear outs and renovations.