Reduce and reuse
Recycling is just one way to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfill sites. Before you recycle or throw away an item, ask yourself if you could reuse or repair it. You may also be able to reduce the amount of waste you produce in the first place. And why not buy recycled products?
(1) Reuse and repair
By reusing or repairing items you can help reduce the amount of waste that is produced, so that there is less to throw away. Below are some suggestions.
Nappies. By choosing reusable real cotton nappies rather than disposable ones, parents can reduce waste and save money.
Furniture. Your old or unwanted furniture or household goods could be donated to a local furniture scheme and reused. Follow the link for more information.
Carrier bags. Every year, around 17.5 billion plastic carrier bags are given away by supermarkets, nearly 300 bags for every person in the UK. Why not reuse yours next time you go shopping?
Charity shops. Why not donate unwanted items to a charity shop, rather than throwing them away?
You can also repair damaged or old items rather than buying new ones.
Repairing or reusing items can save you money, save energy, save scarce resources and protect the environment.
(2) Reduce
There are a number of ways to reduce the amount of waste that you produce.
Junk mail. In the UK 500,000 tonnes of junk mail is generated every year and most of it ends up in the bin. For more information about how you can help reduce the amount of junk mail ending up in the bin, follow the link.
Packaging. When you shop, try and buy items with packaging that can be reused or recycled, or that use as little packaging as possible, so that less packaging ends up in the bin.
Food waste. Food waste is a growing issue in the UK - we throw away more food than packaging. The attached booklet (entitled 'Reducing food waste at home') features five simple ways in which we can all help reduce the enormous amount of food that gets thrown away.
You can also follow the link to the Love Food Hate Waste website, which offers lots of information about to reduce food waste, and save money as a result.
(3) Buy recycled. By buying items made from recycled material, you will ensure that the things you have recycled will be used again! Follow the link for details of recycled products that you can buy, and the companies that sell them.
