How can I reduce, reuse and recycle more?
There are several ways to reduce the amount of rubbish we create in our homes and at school.
Before you embark on your eco journey, it is a good idea to learn about the different symbols on packaging, which will help you to identify what can and cannot be recycled and help you to avoid making mistakes.
You could also use our waste diary to record the amount of rubbish you or your household are producing. You could be surprised by what you discover, and it might make you stop and think!
Unwanted items can be reused. Just because you don’t need or like your old bedroom furniture, or your ‘still as good as new’ school skirt doesn’t fit anymore, doesn’t mean it should be just thrown away. Pre-loved items can be loved again, furniture can be upcycled and fast fashion can be a thing of the past. We want everyone to think of landfill as a very last resort. If you can’t reduce what you throw away or reuse what you don’t need anymore, you must try and recycle wherever possible.
Reduce
- Encourage your parents to avoid buying heavily packed goods and, where possible, buy loose alternatives
- Ask your parents to request paperless bills and bank statements and stop junk mail by registering with the Mailing Preference Service
- Cancel delivery of unwanted newspapers or and catalogues. Almost everything can now be easily viewed online
- Remember to take your own shopping bags and use them repeatedly, rather than buying plastic bags for life every time you shop!
- Walk or bike to school rather than taking the car, or car share where possible Take a packed lunch to school in a re-usable container Carry a refillable water bottle with you to reduce single use plastics use. Many places offer free water refill stations, which will also save you money!
- Start your own vegetable garden and grow your own vegetables. You can even use composted waste to help them grow
- If you have babies in the family, you could ask parents, aunts or uncles to consider switching to reusable nappies rather than disposable nappies
- Turn off electrical items, such as TVs and lights when not in use Where possible shop locally. Doing so will reduce transport emissions and the carbon footprint of the items you’re buying
- Don’t waste food. You can reduce the amount of food we dispose of by creating weekly meal plans and writing shopping lists. This will reduce the number of food items bought unnecessarily, meaning less food is left to rot in the fridge. Any leftover food can be made into exciting new meals
Reuse
- Reuse plastic carrier bags and, when you no longer require them, take them to large supermarkets where you will find plastic bag collection points. These will be recycled
- Reuse scrap paper and envelopes and make note pads or cut up coloured paper to use for arts and crafts. Remember to place scraps in your household recycling container
- Buy rechargeable items instead of disposable ones e.g. batteries and cameras
- Donate old, usable computers, laptops, TVs and games consoles to charities, community groups or schools. If your electrical item is broken, many communities have set up local pop-up repair shops. Keep an eye on your local social media pages for more information. You can’t get out of chores like hoovering that easily!
- Reuse plastic carrier bags and, when you no longer require them, take them to large supermarkets where you will find plastic bag collection points. These will be recycled
- Reuse scrap paper and envelopes and make note pads or cut up coloured paper to use for arts and crafts. Remember to place scraps in your household recycling container
- Donate old, usable computers, laptops, TVs and games consoles to charities, community groups or schools. If your electrical item is broken, many communities have set up local pop-up repair shops. Keep an eye on your local social media pages for more information. You can’t get out of chores like hoovering that easily!
- Buy rechargeable items instead of disposable ones e.g. batteries and cameras
- Buy products in refillable containers such as washing powders, dishwasher tablets etc. visit your local Zero Waste stores for refills. They don’t just sell cleaning products, many also sell food items such as pasta, baking ingredients, cereals, chocolate and sweets
- Buy concentrated products, such as squash, which use less packaging and last longer
- Take old clothes and books to charity shops or sell items at car boot sales - a great way to make some pocket money. Alternatively, sell or donate items on your local Facebook Marketplace page or on other selling sites such as eBay or Vinted
- You can buy new to you items this way too. If more people shopped this way it would reduce demand for new items, reduce the demand for raw materials to produce new and reduce energy consumption too
- Take on an upcycling project. This can be re-painting old or unused furniture or using old clothing to cut up and sew together to make a bedspread or Christmas decorations, for example
- Encourage your parents to look for long lasting and energy efficient appliances when buying new electrical items. They also need to make sure these are well maintained to increase product life cycle Use low energy bulbs which last longer and use less energy
Recycle
- When buying items, choose products that are packaged in recyclable materials
- Compost – most kitchen waste can be composted. Contact your council for details of local composting schemes and details of compost bin sales
- Buy products made from recycled materials or sustainable resources. Most retailers now stock a wide range of such items
- Take time to ensure that everything that can be put in your household recycling bin is. Food or garden waste can be composted at home or put into the correct bin to be composted industrially. Start by trying to reduce your household or school rubbish by 50%, or even better, strive for your home to be produce zero waste