Home insurance - Tips & Advice - Green living
In most parts of the country the local council will come by with a recycling van every week or so and collect your old newspapers, tins and glass bottles. But that needn’t be the sum total of your recycling efforts. Many other items in your house can be recycled instead of thrown in the bin from where they’ll end up festering on a landfill site somewhere.
Contact your council
The problem, however, is knowing what to do with all those other ‘recyclable’ objects. Firstly, check with your local council to find out exactly what they will collect. This varies from area to area, but you may be surprised to learn that they will recycle clothes, tin foil, batteries, plastic bottles and other items.
Many of the items they won’t collect can be taken to a local recycling centre or recycling skip. But don’t drive there every time you have a few plastic bags you want to recycle, as the emissions from your car will cause more environmental damage than your recycling efforts will save! Keep the items up until you have lots of things to recycle, and then take them.
Some items you want to get rid of, such as clothes, books or old children’s toys, may still be in a reasonable condition and so rather than recycling them, you could give them to a charity shop, which will sell them on again and make some money for a good cause at the same time.
Unwanted computers?
Unwanted computers, too, can be given to charity. Computer equipment is full of toxic chemicals and heavy metals, so it's particularly important it's not simply put in the bin. If you live in London you could drop your computer off at the Computer Aid International headquarters – they will use your equipment in health, education and non-profit projects in the developing world.
Alternatively, you can list your computer equipment on the Donate a PC website and hopefully someone will come and collect it from you.
You could give your computer equipment to an electrical shop. Since the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations came into force in 2007, whenever you buy a new computer, or monitor, or any other electrical equipment, your supplier should take your old items off you for free and recycle them – even if you didn’t buy them there in the first place.
What to do with mobile phones
Your mobile phone is another item that quickly becomes out-dated and you may often find yourself replacing a perfectly working handset – particularly as phone companies usually offer free upgrades. Again, your supplier should take your old mobile from you and recycle it when you buy a new one.
However, the website www.greensource.co.uk will use your old phone to help local and international charities. If you fancy seeing some of the cash yourself, the website www.mobilereuse.co.uk helps you make money from recycling your old phone.
About 30% of the rubbish in your bin can be composted [source: www.biggreenswitch.co.uk] to make fertiliser or compost for your garden or pot plants. This is a much better solution than putting it in landfill, via your bin, where it will contribute to the production of harmful greenhouse gasses such as methane.
Composting made easy
Either create a compost heap in the corner of your garden or buy a composting bin from a local garden centre. Your local authority may sell these at a discounted price, so try there first. If you don’t have a garden, you can buy odour-free indoor composting bins. Then, simply fill your bin or heap with layers of raw food scraps, such as vegetable peelings and apple cores, bits of cardboard, tea bags, and soft garden waste such as cut grass. It is best to alternate the layers rather than put too much of one thing in all together. And don’t put cooked food, meat, fish or dairy products in your bin at all.
Most bins will have a tap or opening at the bottom from which you can collect your fertiliser once it is ready. If you make your own compost bin or heap, make sure you can access the bottom, as this is where all the good compost and fertilser will be.
Efficient recycling means that even a large family can reduce the amount of rubbish it produces each week and do its bit to help protect the planet.
Related information:
Green driving – be green in your car as well as at home
Home insulation – ten tips for making your heating more efficient and keeping your fuel costs down
The ultimate spring clean – handy tips for maintenance of wood, textile, glass and metal at home
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