Monthly challenge for June
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Monthly challenge for June
For the first month, we’re going to ease you gently into the idea of reducing your rubbish and the amount of waste you send to landfill each week. We’re nice like that.
This month we’re setting you the challenge of becoming aware of the recycling facilities that are available in your area.
You will discover that you have kerbside collections and / or local recycling facilities where you can recycle certain items. These facilities might be at a supermarket, a pub or a local authority household recycling centre. You’ll probably be amazed just how many places there are to take things once you start looking.
This really is a postcode lottery, so just because your friend on one side of the country can recycle certain things at their kerbside, you will need to check with your local authority or county council about what they collect.
How to discover what you can recycle at home
One of the easiest and most convenient ways to discover what delights are on offer is to use the Recycle Now website.
Simply type in your postcode and you will get a large box on the left hand side of the page telling you what will be collected from your kerbside.
How to find out what you can recycle in your local area
On the same Recycle Now page is a map with a red pointer indicating where you are, surrounded by blue ‘bins’. Click on the nearest blue bin to your home to find your nearest recycling facility, along with details of what you can recycle there.
Don’t forget to type in the postcode for your place of work or other places you visit frequently as well. You might find that within your home and work area you can recycle many different things.
If you find the Recycle Now website too difficult to use, then call your local council.
How to contact your local county council
All local councils in the UK are listed on the Direct Gov website. Simply select ‘A to Z of local councils’ from the homepage to find an alphabetical listing and select the area you come under. Alternatively, use that terribly old fashioned invention of the phone book to find the number 😀
If you’re not sure who your local council are, then get hold of your latest Council Tax bill for information.
What do I do now?
That’s it! Find out the information you need, then record it somewhere handy and hold onto it, ready for the July challenge.
Let us know how you get on and what you find out. Are there less or more facilities than you had expected?
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This is great – thank you! I’ve been wanting to reduce my rubbish for ages but have felt overwhelmed by the whole process. I’m also frustrated that different areas have really big differences in their recycling policies. Not to mention all the different plastic codes.
But I think I can manage your challenge as it has been broken down into small steps.
Off to the bin I go!
Sally
Hi Sally!
Reducing waste can feel very overwhelming, especially when there is so much packaging on most goods. The plastic codes are confusing, but we’ll be covering that in future posts.
Good luck with the challenge; let us know how you get on!
Mrs G x
May I rant?
I recycle as much paper as I can, but really hate ripping the plastic windows out of envelopes, as required. I’d like to see window envelopes discontinued.
Diz
Hi Diz,
Welcome and thank you for taking time to post a comment. We really appreciate people taking a moment to write to us with their thoughts.
Please rant away – you’ve come to just the place. You make a really interesting point about the envelope windows and I admit I’ve never given it any thought.
I tend to keep mine and then reuse them to post things to other people in.
I wonder what others think about this and whether people actually bother to remove the windows or whether they leave them in……
Mrs G x
I have to say that I remove the windows before putting them in the recycle bin. It’s very therapeautic if done little and often honest (no there is not much going on in my life). Living in Piemonte (North east) of italy we have excellent recycling facilities. I reckon that 2 carrier bags per week currently go into landfill here which I don’t think is bad considering we are a family of four. I have a paper recycling bin, an organic waste recycling bin which takes meat and bread as well as veggies, a plastic recycling bin which also takes polystyrene and plastic carrier bags too and a green waste bin for garden waste. In the past I had a compost bin in my garden in England but we just haven’t quite got round to this here yet and as it is a rented house I’m not sure that we will. I have also noticed that I can put clean tetra packs in with the paper to be recycled too so I can see my 2 carrier bag habit going down to just one in the very near future. Now if only the UK can get on the case as well as other parts of Italy that are not so well organised….
Hi Indiebird,
I love how you find the simple things in life therapeutic. I think we all have things like that. I absolutely love brushing the floor and find it very relaxing. Go figure!
Two carrier bags a week for a family of four is really good – well done you.
It sounds like the recycling facilities and collections are very good in your area. Good luck on the one carrier bag a week challenge! As you say, let’s hope the UK catches up soon. Although I believe parts of the country are very well maintained already.
It’s lovely to hear about life in Italy; really interesting to see how you do things over there. Do keep sharing your news.
Mrs G x