Recycling, Reusing & Reducing Tips

There does not seem to be a day that goes by without some mention in the media of our need to change the way we dispose of items and their packaging that pass through our homes and end up in our dustbins. Pressures are on local authorise to come up with solutions to deal with the ever growing problem.

We have outline some ideas that we can implement to recycle, reuse or reduce the amount we need to throw away.

- If your children have outgrown clothes or toys, why not pass them on to someone else or take them to the charity shop. Send you unwanted curtains to them also.

- Buy second hand furniture.

- Repair any furniture or have chairs recovered.

- Take your carrier bags with you to the shops. Some supermarkets offer bags for life. Or buy a cloth degradable one or a compost able one and take that with you.

- When shopping avoid items that are over packaged.

- Buy local produced products as well as the products that you can afford.

- Think about the type of material the item you are buying comes from. Some furniture is made from sustainable forests.

- Buy in bulk and empty the items into smaller containers.

- Buy recycled goods.

- Always use both side of writing paper.

- Make your own compost from your rubbish, garden leaves and grass cuttings.

- Ink cartridges can be recycled by returning them to the manufactures. Check if your ones are suitable. Donate to charities such as Action Aid.

- Shred up old telephone directories and use them for animal bedding or in the compost bin.

- Encourage children to get involved in recycling so that it becomes a way of life for them and the family.

- Cut up old tee shits and use them as cleaning cloths.

- Plastic squash bottles can be made into fleeces.

- Consider making pack lunches for children as opposed to pre-packed food.

- Make up your won drinks from squashes as opposed to bottles, cans or pouches. They often contain a lot of sugar.

- Send an email rather than paper.

- Use solar powered or water powered calculators as opposed to battery ones in the office.

- Re use envelopes and jiffy bags.

- Use cotton nappies as opposed to disposable ones.

- Join the nappy laundry scheme.

- Recycle your mobile phone.

- Give you old magazine to the doctor’s surgery.

- Or give cereal boxes, kitchen roll tubes and yogurt carton to local primary school for art classes.

- If you are planning some special event that requires a special outfit, consider hiring it.