Reduce and Re-use? Why?
What does this mean?
Reducing our reliance on landfill is a key part in the battle to
protect the environment. Rotting waste beneath the soil produces
harmful gases. Allerdale Borough Council and its residents have
made huge inroads into reducing the waste that they produce by
recycling as much of that waste as possible.
Cutting down on the waste we produce, as well as recycling and
composting as much as possible, is far better for the
environment.
In 2004/2005 Cumbria produced more household waste than any
other part of the UK so it was not only important that we focused
on recycling but that we try and prevent generating waste in the
first place. With landfill tax set to increase year on year, it
will become an even more expensive way of disposing of our
waste.
Supermarkets only sell what consumers want, so if we tell them
we want less packaging on our goods by choosing alternatives
without excessive packaging, then they will sell more products this
way.
Why reduce and re-use?
Re-use is to give items a second or third life by using it as
something else that is useful. An example could be a
margarine tub being used to plant seeds in or store children's
crayons.
Reducing and Re-using saves energy, helps cut down
on pollution, (including greenhouse gas emissions), conserves
natural resources, reduces the need for landfill and may save you
money.
Here's how to reduce
- The easiest way is to use you own basket or a
'bag for life' carrier bag when you go shopping. If each household
takes 5 carrier bags home a week (and most take far more than this)
then they will throw away 260 a year. If you do take a
carrier bag please re-use it as a bin liner or the next time you go
shopping. There are still a lot of carrier bags being used as
a single use item.
- Try and buy products with less packaging
such as loose fruit and vegetables.
- Buy in bulk where possible, it reduces
packaging
- Buy concentrated products and refills, like
detergents and doorstop milk deliveries
- Try to repair broken items rather than buy new
ones or give them away to someone who could use it.
- Buy durable items instead of disposable
ones
- To reduce your junk mail register with The
Mailing Preference Service, FREEPOST 22, London W1E 7EZ email
mps@dma.org.uk
Here's how to re-use
- Re-use carrier bags as bin liners
- Scrap paper can be used on both sides for
children or perhaps lists
- Try to re-use containers for storage, like
margarine tubs for children's pencils. aerosol lids as paperclip
holders, corks instead of crocks in your pots
- Buy reusable products instead of disposable
ones, rechargeable batteries or plastic picnic tableware instead of
paper ones
- Send unwanted clothes and textiles to
charity shops/clothes banks
- Unwanted furniture can be donated to charities such as Age
Concern, or Impact Housing.
Think before you bin!
You may have no use for it, it's old, too small, broken or just
do not like it. Someone may need it and be able to make use of
it!
Use your local charity shop and voluntary organisations. They take
a wide variety of items from shoes to furniture and mobile phones,
or even use the internet to sell items that you no longer want but
that are in good condition.
Education and changing attitudes
In our throwaway society it is all too easy to
simply just bin it. But the days of throwing unlimited amounts of
waste out has gone and we must think about how much rubbish we are
throwing out. We cannot eliminate the production of waste
totally but by making small changes everyone can make a
significant contribution to waste minimisation.
Real Nappies
For those environmentally conscious parents who want an
alternative to the disposable nappy, there is an alternative to
disposable nappies in the form of real
nappies. Things have come a long way since the old terry
nappy days and safety pins. Real nappies now come in a
variety of styles from cotton to fleece and organic hemp fabrics,
fastened by either velcro or poppers.
There are approx 5,000 babies born in Cumbria each year,
therefore an estimated 12,500 babies at one time wearing
nappies. Each baby produces 0.5 tonne of nappy waste per
year. Using real nappies can save parents money while
significantly reducing the amount of this type of waste going
into our landfill sites. There are a number of real
nappy retailers locally as well as a real nappy laundry service.
For more information on the Real Nappy Voucher Scheme, please see
the Resource
Cumbria website.
For more information on recycling facilities near you please see
our Recycling - Recycling centres
page.