Recycling Tips
TWELVE TIPS FOR RECYCLING
1. Recycle! Facilities for recycling paper, glass, cans, cardboard and plastic are becoming increasingly widespread. Use them! If you're not already doing it, ask your local council if they offer recycling collections for household rubbish.
2. Fill a small plastic bottle with water and put it in your toilet cistern. This will reduce the amount of water used each time you flush the toilet. By the end of the year the amount is amazing. You can also get 'hippo' bags from most water providers which effectively do the same thing.
3. Reuse items. Try to reuse items as many times as possible. If you do not have a use for items that are still good or operational, donate them to a local charity or environmental organization. Ask to see their wish list, you may have something they need. Many schools or after-school groups are always looking out for clean materials such as wood, plastic tubing, etc. Many items can also be used for other things than what they were first purchase for. Be creative! A plastic bottle can be made into a funnel, plant pot, bird feeder, container?
4. When you go shopping take your own reusable shopping bags, or the plastic carrier bags from previous trips. Use plastic bags as kitchen and bathroom bin liners.
5. Buy recycled. Choose to buy products that are made from recycled material. If you pass on your waste to recycling facilities without then buying recycled products, you're only making a token gesture. Most of us are members of a market driven economy to some degree, if there is no demand for recycled products, recycling will in itself fail. Choose products that are made of or packaged in recyclable material. Paper bags, cardboard boxes, glass bottles, aluminum and tin cans, and some plastics are easily recycled.
1. Recycle! Facilities for recycling paper, glass, cans, cardboard and plastic are becoming increasingly widespread. Use them! If you're not already doing it, ask your local council if they offer recycling collections for household rubbish.
2. Fill a small plastic bottle with water and put it in your toilet cistern. This will reduce the amount of water used each time you flush the toilet. By the end of the year the amount is amazing. You can also get 'hippo' bags from most water providers which effectively do the same thing.
3. Reuse items. Try to reuse items as many times as possible. If you do not have a use for items that are still good or operational, donate them to a local charity or environmental organization. Ask to see their wish list, you may have something they need. Many schools or after-school groups are always looking out for clean materials such as wood, plastic tubing, etc. Many items can also be used for other things than what they were first purchase for. Be creative! A plastic bottle can be made into a funnel, plant pot, bird feeder, container?
4. When you go shopping take your own reusable shopping bags, or the plastic carrier bags from previous trips. Use plastic bags as kitchen and bathroom bin liners.
5. Buy recycled. Choose to buy products that are made from recycled material. If you pass on your waste to recycling facilities without then buying recycled products, you're only making a token gesture. Most of us are members of a market driven economy to some degree, if there is no demand for recycled products, recycling will in itself fail. Choose products that are made of or packaged in recyclable material. Paper bags, cardboard boxes, glass bottles, aluminum and tin cans, and some plastics are easily recycled.
6. If you have a garden, and do anything with it compost your kitchen and garden waste at home using a compost bin or compost heap. This can help reduce your waste by up to 25% and fertilise your soil for nothing. If you don't, does your neighbour or the old boy down the street?
7. You can purchase wood and wooden products carrying the Forest Stewardship Council 'Woodmark'. This guarantees that the wood has been harvested sustainably.
8. Make a conscious effort to make one less car journey on your own each week. Walk, cycle, take the bus or train or share a lift with someone else. You'll be reducing your contribution to pollution by around 15%
9. Polystyrene ... don't use plastic and polystyrene plates and cups. If the fast food outlet on the corner does, petition them to use paper based versions.
10. Packaging .. Product packaging accounts for about 33% of all household garbage. If we refuse to buy products that are over packaged, the manufacturers will be forced to change their packaging to be more environmentally responsive.
11. Degradability ... false economy ... Avoid relying on the word "degradable". A degradable product must be exposed to the element to breakdown. In a land fill these items do not breakdown because they are protected by tons of debris and dirt. Paper is degradable, but does that mean its okay to cut down hundreds of thousands of trees to provide it, letting the used paper 'degrade'?
12. Bulk products ... Buy in bulk or concentrated forms when ever possible. This will usually save you money and reduces the amount of waste packaging that is thrown away.
7. You can purchase wood and wooden products carrying the Forest Stewardship Council 'Woodmark'. This guarantees that the wood has been harvested sustainably.
8. Make a conscious effort to make one less car journey on your own each week. Walk, cycle, take the bus or train or share a lift with someone else. You'll be reducing your contribution to pollution by around 15%
9. Polystyrene ... don't use plastic and polystyrene plates and cups. If the fast food outlet on the corner does, petition them to use paper based versions.
10. Packaging .. Product packaging accounts for about 33% of all household garbage. If we refuse to buy products that are over packaged, the manufacturers will be forced to change their packaging to be more environmentally responsive.
11. Degradability ... false economy ... Avoid relying on the word "degradable". A degradable product must be exposed to the element to breakdown. In a land fill these items do not breakdown because they are protected by tons of debris and dirt. Paper is degradable, but does that mean its okay to cut down hundreds of thousands of trees to provide it, letting the used paper 'degrade'?
12. Bulk products ... Buy in bulk or concentrated forms when ever possible. This will usually save you money and reduces the amount of waste packaging that is thrown away.
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