Ten top recycling tips
I know, I know, it’s cheesy PR all over. But it’s also a bit useful.
The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is urging householders to rethink the way they approach waste if we’re to avoid becoming lost to landfill. The
UK sends more rubbish to landfill than any other European nation and we only have about nine years before space runs out.
IChemE’s top ten tips to reduce, reuse, recycle are:
1. Plan ahead. Buy what you know you’ll use during the weekly shop instead of buying on impulse – you’ll end up throwing less away.2. Heat and shrink. Plastic bottles or containers can be shrunk using leftover boiling water from your kettle.
3. Compost it. Compost isn’t just for spud peelings – throw in teabags, eggshells and even dust from your hoover.
4. Recharge your batteries. Discarded batteries contain cadmium, mercury and other toxic metals. Rechargeable batteries are much greener – and cheaper in the long term.
5. Go local. Try to shop as locally as possible and look for products with minimal packaging.
6. Scale up. Buying non-perishable goods in bulk will save on packaging and money in the long term.
7. Carry on recycling. Keep on reusing your supermarket carrier bags.
8. Make the polluter pay. Remove unnecessary packaging and leave it at the checkout – suppliers will soon get the message.
9. Get a pet. Even domestic animals are nature’s own waste disposal units.
10. Buy quality, not quantity. The more consideration you give to what you buy, the less you’ll throw away. And don’t dump it, freecycle it at http://www.freecycle.co.uk.
