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Want to recycle as much as poss!!!
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Great thread and well done on your efforts so far :TWe do not make compost, but our garden is very small and we have a puppy so she would probably try to eat it anyway!
Composting is the single most effective thing you can do to reduce the amount of household waste to landfill. We throw away only a cople of sarriers a week, for 4 of us (most is non-recyclable packaging). You may be able to get a composter at reduced price from your council. The kitchen waste will break down, and reduce in volume. If you advertise on Freecycle, you'll probable have people queing up to empty out the compost when the time comes
HTH, Penny. x:rudolf: Sheep, pigs, hens and bees on our Teesdale smallholding :rudolf:0 -
Batteries - my children's school takes these and they raise money for the school so maybe check with your local primary school to see if they would like them.
Also our local tip has a recycling point for all kinds of batteries from tiny hearing aid ones to car batteries.0 -
In terms of the plastics contact your local council to see where the facilities are - if they have none then demand they do. Also check with the local school or playgroup to see if they can use anything for craft projects like yogurt pots and egg boxes.
Try to avoid buying packaging by buying loose fruit and veg where possible - I often unpackage my shopping at the till as a sort of protest but am rethinking this as at least I do recycle whereas the supermarket will probably just put stuff in the bin.I'm going to feed our children non-organic food and with the money saved take them to the zoo - half man half biscuit 20080 -
Hi!
Here's my advice for recycling as much as possible, hope it helps:
* try to get three uses or functions out of each item before it's finally thrown away (eg old sheets, cut down and turned into pillowcases, cut down again into patchwork pieces)
* be artistic & creative with your 'waste', eg cut the top off a tetrapak in a curvaceous funky shape, cut out some pretty flowers/ patterns from a magazine & stick on to form a collage to make an instant vase. Or buy some glass paints to decorate jam jars - make very pretty night light holders for your patio on a summer's evening. Make your own greetings cards from scrap card rather than buying commercial ones from virgin paper.
Borrow some books from the library to start your creative ideas
* a lot of packaging/ waste can find a useful home in the garden (eg old tights to tie your plants to poles/ yoghurt pots & plastic punnets for growing seedlings/ free cd's hung from string as bird scarers)
* a quote from the great tome of Self-sufficiency by John seymour
"at the house of the small-holder the dustman need never call".
Think about it: never having to put out the bin out once a week, or fortnight, because everything is endlessly reuseable or fully biodegradable. Whilst it may be a tall order in today's society (it was only written about 25 years ago tho') it's still food for thought and something to aim for in whatever small way we can.
* try to buy from non-commercial sources with less packaging, eg buy cherries from the geezer at the local market in a (compostable) paper bag, rather than a plastic punnet from Te$co's
* plan meals in advance, so you don't end up stacking the trolly with loads more food than you could ever eat in a week & chucking it away. Eat more simply, rather than buying expensive, overpackaged ready meals. It's no more difficult to whack a lamb chop under the grill and some new potatoes & broccoli in the pan. There's some great spices & marinades out there so simple doesn't have to equal plain. (Take some greaseproof paper to the butcher's so it doesn't need to be wrapped in plastic)
* definately get a compost bin/ heap. You can put any raw veg/ fruit matter on it, plus egg shells, cardboard egg boxes, garden prunings, tea bags, hair combings and toe nail clippings. Don't put any cooked food waste, garden weeds gone to seed, meat/ fish, cheese, animal or human poo (urine is good apparently, however. It's a good activator to get it going):D
* always carry spare cloth bags in your handbag or car in case of unexpected supermarket visit. "Onya bags" are good... made out of parachute material & folds up into a tiny pouch that comes as a key ring
* getting really dark green here: divert your bathwater/ washing water to a butt where it can be reused for the garden/ loo flushing:cool:
Just be consciencious in your consumption habits, and do what you can according to the constraints you find yourself in, ie don't beat yourself up if you can't recycle as much as you like because you work long hours for example. Just don't be mentally lazy, and be willing to change your habits. Often the simplest solution will be the easiest in the long run too. Take it easy and adjust to one new habit at a time.
Gosh, hope I haven't gone on too much & haven't bored you senseless. As you can probbo tell I'm a total green nut case and should probably belond in the nearest eco-village funny farm for such late night postings.:oCompetition wins: 09/12 bottle of cognac; 01/13 combi microwave0 -
Waste from small animal (vegetarian) cages can also be composted. I line my guinea pigs cage with newspaper and hay can easily be removed from the cage and put in the compost bin.0
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zippybungle wrote:Also I am a bit confused about the different types of plastic, eg the thick, usually blue or dark red coloured plastic cartons that mushrooms sometimes come in (I normally choose loose mushrooms, but will buy the ones in plastic if they are reduced). Can these be recycled in the same way as plastic bottles? I bought some pasties from Sainsburys the other day which came in a very thin clear plastic tray, on the packaging it said the plastic was recyclable - again does this go with the plastic bottles?
Tetra Pak is recyclable but is not generally collected for recyling. You can check whether you can recycle Tetra Pak in your area on this map. If you are keen to recycle it you can post it back to Tetra Pak using these labels but you have to pay postage. If you remove the plastic spouts you should be able to send 33 1litre packs per 2nd class stamp. If you want to lobby your local authority to provide facilities for Tetra Pak recycling then Tetra Pak suggest you direct their attention to this press-release and there is a standard letter you can use here.
Here paper, card (but not cardboard), HDPE milk bottles and PETE pop bottles, glass bottles and aluminium and steel cans are all collected. If you're not so lucky then voicing your opinions to your local council is probably one of the most effective steps you can take since doorstep collections are pretty key to the efficiency of the recycling process, maximising feedstock and minimising transportation.0 -
hi, just thought you migjt be intersted in a free non profit making site called freecycle.com. the whole ethos is to give stuff away to stop it going to landfill and they have groups all over the country.0
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Hiya,
This is a great thread - thank you everyone for all the pointers. I'm trying to cut down on the amount I throw away and my big problem at the moment is trying to find consumable stuff that comes in compostable or recyclable containers - my council recycles the obvious stuff but nothing more.
Fruit, veg, bread, milk and most non-perishable stuff I'm ok with as packaging is generally recyclable. But I'm stuck for ideas on a load of other stuff like
- shampoo (does anyone still refill bottles, or alternatively sell easily recyclable ones?),
- toothpaste
- stuffed pasta (really don't want to give this up if possible and making my own sounds too traumatic)
- yoghurt
- margarine (I know containers can come in handy for various things but I live in a shared house and don't have room to store stuff waiting for a good use)
etc etc
I guess what I'm looking for is ideas on which shops (other than the incredibly expensive sort where everything comes wrapped in unbleached biodynamic paper) sell things like this in recyclable/compostable packaging.
Is this an impossible dream? Any ideas welcome!!0 -
We use to recycle everything down at the local recycling 'bank' or compost it. then we discovered MSE. Now we save all steel,alunimum etc and sell it, empty ink cartridges are sold and use freecycle. Has anyone any other suggestions on how else we could make some free money whilst recycling???0
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