Rethink Rubbish in the home - hints and tips
- Ditch cling film and foil and store food in re-sealable containers instead.
- Buy milk in returnable bottles, instead of paper cartons.
- Invest in rechargeable batteries to reduce rubbish and save cash.
- Make recycling part of your weekly supermarket trip. Find out where your nearest facilities are located from the bank locator.
- If your council collects recycling from your doorstep – take advantage!
- Choose re-useable varieties of goods such as nappies and hankies, rather than disposable ones. For information about re-usable nappies call the UK Nappy Helpline on 01983 401959.
- Give good quality magazines to your local doctor’s surgery for the waiting room.
- Take unwanted clothes and household items to charity shops or jumble sales.
Junk Mail?
Around one million tonnes of junk mail and magazines get binned each year! But it’s easy to enjoy a junk mail free home and cut down on the rubbish in your bin at the same time by registering with the Mailing Preference Service.
There’s a number of easy ways to register:
- Visit the MPS website at www.mpsonline.org.uk
- Or e-mail to mps@dma.org.uk
- Or write to: The Mailing Preference Service, FREEPOST 29 LON20771,
London, W1E 0ZT stating that you would like your details included to stop receiving unsolicited direct mail. - Or call 0845 703 4599.
Top Tips for Recycling in Greater Manchester
Bottle banks can be found all over Greater Manchester in Recycling Sites and supermarket car parks, so you won’t need to travel far. It is often overlooked that bottlebanks also take jars – so you can keep your marmalade jars and pasta sauce jars and recycle them at the same time!
Find out more about glass recycling at www.recyclingglass.co.uk
Paper
Almost any household paper can be recycled, including newspapers, magazines, cardboard packaging, stationery, direct mail, and greetings cards. However, you may find there are different banks for different papers, so it’s important not to mix them up. Paper milk and juice cartons are made from a mixture of materials, so don’t be tempted to simply bung these in or you’ll contaminate the load.
Food and drink cans
Can banks are on the increase for steel and aluminium cans. Food cans can be recycled as well as drink cans, so make sure you wash, squash and recycle these here too.
There is plenty of information and fun for kids about steel can recycling at www.scrib.org.
It’s worth remembering that empty aluminium drink cans are worth money to collectors, so why not save them and cash them in with your local aluminium can recycling centre? Much of the money raised in this way goes to help charities and schools.
Interested? See www.alupro.org.uk
Plastic
Although Plastic recycling isn't as common as other materials, it is on the increase. There are now 210 plastic bottle collection schemes in the UK, and 3.6 million people are fortunate enough to have collections by their council on their doorstep. If your council does not provide plastic recycling facilities, look out for them as they may be coming soon, in the meantime check to see if you can buy your product in paper or glass instead which can easily be recycled.
www.recoup.org has more details including products made from plastic bottles - ranging from fleece jackets to houseware such as beds and bedding!
Organic Rubbish
Organic household waste - in other words kitchen and garden rubbish - might seem harmless enough, but this makes up the biggest percentage of our household dustbin contents. Organic waste produces greenhouse gases as it rots, and contributes to global warming. In Britain, we are required by law to drastically reduce the amount of organic waste that is sent to landfill sites over the next few years. The best use for organic waste is to convert it into compost. You can make a compost heap really easy, or alternatively all DIY stores and garden centres sell composter bins. Look out for composter sales from your local council, you may be able to pick up a bargain.
Textiles
Charity shops provide a good home for unwanted clothing, but even the shabbiest garments can have their uses. Damaged clothing can be turned into wiping cloths, shredded for use in furniture padding, or even re-woven into new fabric, so look out for charity clothing banks alongside your usual bottle banks, or fill the charity bags which come through your letterbox. And if you give away shoes, tie them together as they have a habit of losing their partners!
Oils
Old engine oil can prove both messy and hazardous if not disposed of properly. Oil poured down the drain or sink is a major cause of water pollution. However used engine oil can be recycled. Solve these problems and save resources at the same time. There are more than 1,500 oil recycling banks throughout the UK and Northern Ireland. To find your nearest, call 08708 506 506 or visit www.oilbankline.org.uk.
Paint
Most of us will have the odd half-full pot of paint kicking around our garage and the likelihood is we’ll never use it again, so why not give it to someone who will. Community Re>Paint is an award-winning network which collects unwanted, leftover paint and re-distributes it for use by charities, voluntary groups and community organisations. For more information and to find your nearest Community Re>Paint scheme, visit www.communityrepaint.org.uk.
Household Hazardous Waste
Paint and oil are just two forms of ‘household hazardous waste’ – rubbish which can cause pollution if disposed of incorrectly. Visit www.nhhwf.org.uk/virtual-house and take a tour of the virtual house to get more advice on how to deal with messy or hazardous rubbish which you may have hoarded in your garage or under the kitchen sink.
Recycling at Work in Greater Manchester
Reduce the paperwork
We all complain about too much paperwork, but with so much paper thrown away by British offices each year there are really simple things to do that will dramatically reduce this huge amount. Photocopying and printing double-sided, will immediately reduce paperwork by half!
Most offices now have e-mail which means less paper for memos, letters and faxes. And if you do have scrap paper, why not use it to feed the fax machine, or for writing notes or printing internal copies.
And by buying products made from recycled materials such as paper and stationery will help to encourage a healthy marketplace for recycled goods which is vital for long term stability.
Don't be a mug!
Rediscover the real taste of tea and coffee by drinking your cuppa out of a real mug!
Your cuppa will taste better out of a proper mug so try not to use plastic cups from vending machines if you can. You won’t burn your hands and you’ll cut down on the amount of plastic cups thrown away too.
If your office does use a vending machine and there isn’t a viable alternative, why not contact Save-A-Cup on 01494 510167 or visit www.save-a-cup.co.uk which offers a collection and recycling service.
Your used plastic cups can be made into new a whole range of products such as pens, rulers and cup coasters, so please recycle if you can.
Rethink Rubbish @ Work
Most of us spend a large part of our waking lives at work, but for all the useful stuff we churn out, we unfortunately produce mountains of rubbish too.
By law, all businesses have to make proper arrangements to dispose of their rubbish, which usually involves paying a waste management company or the local council to provide containers and empty them on a regular basis. A charge is normally made for commercial waste collection, so it’s in the interests of businesses to try and reduce the amount of rubbish that needs taking away.
Putting rubbish at the top of the business agenda
Research by Envirowise has found that rubbish can cost UK businesses up to 4.5 percent of their annual turnover, so it really is in a company’s interests to rethink its rubbish. It’s easy to cut down the amount of rubbish we create at work without increasing our workloads or causing more stress! There are a number of effective steps we can take:
- choose durable over disposable items
- recycle – for example, paper, empty drink cans, toner cartridges, etc
- buy products that are made from recycled materials, such as recycled paper or stationery
- try not to create as much rubbish in the first place!