Not producing waste in the first place is the obvious solution and we can all play a part by thinking about how and why we produce waste.

 

·         Always try to use both sides of a sheet of paper or, if only one side has been used, you can cut it up and make notebooks.

·         Share a newspaper or magazine with a relative or friend rather than both of you buying one.

·         Buy re-usable products instead of disposable ones, such as re-usable instead of plastic razors and rechargeable batteries. Only use disposable items if you really have to.

         

·         Say no to junkmail by signing up to the Mailing Preference Service (details below).

     

·         Buy products with the minimum amount of packaging. For example, when you buy vegetables in the supermarket, do not take a plastic bag for each item. Instead place the vegetables loose in the trolley.

    

·         Buy products packaged in recyclable materials e.g. paper. Remember that paper and cardboard packaging can be easily composted. Simply tear into small pieces and add a little at a time to your compost bin or heap.

    

·         Try to avoid disposable plastic bags by choosing stronger shopping bags that can be used over and over. If you have to use disposable bags then re-use them as many times as possible.

     

·         Buy products with packaging that can be recycled in your Black 'Kerbie' Box or Blue Bin kerbside collection scheme or your local recycling centre.

·         Compost your garden, fruit and vegetable waste in your compost heap or Home Composter.

     

·         Use Tupperware containers for lunches, storage of food and leftovers, instead of sandwich bags or throwaway plastic containers.

     

·         Try to avoid take-away foods when possible as they produce a lot of excess packaging. For example: Why don’t you ask for your bags of chips to be wrapped together instead of separate?

·         Repair things if they break.

 

Look out for the EU Eco-Label which is the guarantee that a product has a reduced impact on the environment.

 

About the Mailing Preference Service (MPS)

The Mailing Preference Service allows consumers to register, free of charge, their wish to be removed from up to 95% of direct mail lists in the UK. It helps to ensure that the direct mail consumers receive is welcome mail, while also helping the direct marketing industry to reduce its wastage. This does not include companies with whom a consumer has dealt with in the past, or unaddressed mail.

Research shows that 35% of consumers are aware of the MPS, with currently 1.2 million names registered.

Consumers can register via the website www.mpsonline.org.uk or request an application form by phone on 0845 703 4599.

www.mpsonline.org.uk or request an application form by phone on 0845 703 4599.

 

 

 

Many of the things we currently throw away could be re-used again and again with just a little thought and imagination

·         Instead of throwing away your favourite magazine after you have read it, why not pass it on to a friend or pass them on to the doctor, dentist or local hospitals for their waiting room areas cut it up and use it to make a collage or for other art projects.

     

·         Or why not try origami - the Japanese art of paper folding - to make a mobile or decoration for your room?

·         You can cut up last year's Christmas cards to make gift tags to use this year.

     

·         Newspapers are excellent for polishing your windows after you have washed them.

·         If you have a Blue Bin at your house, please don't forget to put your waste paper into it for recycling. Please take care only to put in the types of paper which are on the list sent out with your Blue Bin.

·         If you do not have a Blue Bin, please don't forget to take your waste paper to your nearest Civic Amenity Site or Bring Centre.

·         Real Nappies are available as a substitute for disposalble nappies and could save you money too. www.wen.org.uk

·         Pass on unwanted items for re-use. For example, unwanted toys can be passed on to childrens wards in hospitals or to community groups. Larger items such as furniture may be useful to someone else even if you no longer want it. Why not check out www.freecycle.org

     

• Free2take provides a free web based service where you can advertise unwanted items so others can claim and collect them for reuse as an alternative to dumping. You can also place Wanted Ads for items you would like to reuse yourself or why not promote your green service or event with us, remember...Don't lose it just Reuse it ! Why not check out www.free2take.net

·         Plastic bottles can be re-used time after time by refilling. Some shops such as The Body Shop will refill bottles with the same products for a cheaper price than buying new ones.

·         Each household uses 3 to 4 glass bottles and jars every week. Glass jars such as jam jars and coffee jars can be cleaned and re-used as storage jars.

·         If you are a gardener, large plastic bottles can be used in the garden to protect young plants and provide water reservoirs for older plants.

·         Household batteries: buy rechargeable batteries and use mains power where possible.

     

·         Send unwanted but still good quality clothes to charity shops and cut old clothes up to use as dusters.

     

·         Keep old plastic bags to take with you on your next shopping trip, or you could use them as bin bags.

·         Stick a label over old envelopes and use them again.

 

Waste products can be turned back into the raw materials they came from and then used to make new products. This helps to conserve natural resources and energy.

 

·         Recycling paper saves trees and uses less energy and water. All the paper the Council collects is sent away to be recycled either into new paper or into paper fibre items such as egg boxes. This saves new trees being cut down, and means there is less waste going to landfill.

·         If you are on the Tri-Cycle Scheme make full use if your Bryson House Black ‘Kerbie’ Box, Blue Bin and Brown Bin.  Alternatively, take your waste to the nearest Household Recycling Centre.  Council Household Recycling Centres now recycle a wide range of wastes, so why not make your contribution count!

·         You can also use a Home Composter to recycle your garden waste and kitchen scraps into a soil conditioner that you can use in your garden.

·         DON’T FORGET - buy recycled products.  They are of good quality and support the markets for recycled materials.

 

Buy Recycled Products

Waste is one of the biggest environmental problems facing our world today.  Reducing, re-using and recycling our rubbish creates jobs and income, reduces energy use and pollution and saves natural resources and wildlife habitats.  However, without someone willing to buy our waste material, it is pointless collecting it.  We can all help to support recycling markets by buying recycled products.  Encourage your store to stock recycled products and congratulate them when they do. Encourage your friends, family and colleagues to buy recycled products.

 

Buy Green

Use your power as a consumer to buy green products and items made from or packaged in recycled material/s.  Once you start looking, you will be surprised at the number of products made from recycled material e.g. cereal boxes, bin bags, toilet paper, writing paper, envelopes, steel cans and so on. 

It is also important to avoid products that are over-packaged. Do you really need to buy items that are individually wrapped or your vegetables in a pre-packed plastic tray (which probably cannot be recycled)? Could you buy the same product loose?