Practical ways to reduce your rubbish - What can you do?
Why Reduce your Rubbish?
This year householders will throw away over 420,000 tonnes of
household rubbish in North Yorkshire and the City of York. This is
an average of over 1 tonne a year produced by every household, and
the cost of disposing of this rubbish is increasing.
Where’s it all going to go?
Most of your rubbish is buried in large landfill sites which
are quickly filling up. More and more rubbish is being produced and
if nothing is done about it now, by 2025 there will be double the
amount of rubbish to collect and dispose of.
What’s wrong with burying rubbish in landfill
sites?
- Rotting rubbish produces methane gas which is flammable and also a potent greenhouse gas.
- Landfill sites are filling up quickly and becoming expensive. The Government now taxes all waste to landfill and fines Councils for disposing of waste over and above permitted levels.
- Dangerous chemicals and heavy metals have the potential to contaminate groundwater if not properly contained.
- It is a waste of natural resources.
The good news is that everyone can easily do something about
it by rethinking habits when out shopping or at home. You can make
a difference to how much you throw away and save money. It only
takes a few changes:
Reduce your rubbish- this is the best
option.
Re-use the item instead of throwing it
away.
Recycle your rubbish- everyone is getting
into the habit.
Rethink Shopping
The amount of rubbish produced depends on what you buy and
use. By thinking about what you buy you can reduce the amount of
rubbish that ends up in your bin.
- Use a strong reusable ‘bag for life’ again and again for shopping at the supermarket. For small items in other shops just ask for a receipt- you may not need a bag.
- Avoid over packaged products where possible.
- Buy in bulk where it makes sense. Buy concentrated products and refillable packs where possible.
- Avoid buying disposable items such as razors or batteries. Save money and reduce rubbish by buying re-usable alternatives.
- Choose washable nappies rather than disposable ones. See the Partnership website for further information on offers.
- Take your old mobile phone back to your network provider to be re-used or recycled. For more information visit Fonebak
Rethink at Home
Think twice before putting things in the bin. A lot of what we
throw away at home can be given a new lease of life.
- Take unwanted books, toys or clean and dry clothes, and shoes to your local charity shop so they can be re-used. Or sell items you no longer need through a free ads paper or car boot sale.
- Store food in re-usable plastic containers or margarine tubs to reduce the amount of cling film and aluminium foil you use.
- Stop junk mail by contacting the Mailing Preference Service. See contacts section for details.
- Compost your kitchen and garden waste in your garden. See contacts section for details on how to purchase a subsidised home compost bin.
- Cut down on the amount of food that’s wasted by preparing the right amount for meals and using up leftovers.
- Changing the look of your home has never been easier or more popular. Recondition instead of buying new- do you need totally new kitchen units or just new doors?
Rethinking your Bin
After reducing and re-using all you can whilst shopping and at
home, the next best option is to recycle.
Recycling has never been so easy, with more facilities
becoming available all the time.
- Recycle your paper, glass, cans and garden waste using your kerbside recycling services. Other materials such as plastic bottles, cardboard, textile etc can be recycled at recycling centres.
- Compost your garden and selected kitchen waste. Around a third of the contents of your bin can be easily composted. So get a compost bin or separate your garden waste in to your green bin.
- Household Waste Recycling Centres (the Tip) have a greater variety of facilities for recycling including engine oil, household and car batteries, yellow pages, larger metal items, rubble and garden waste.
- Did you know approximately 60% of your rubbish can easily be recycled?
For more information on ways to reduce your rubbish
contact the Helpline on 01748 828777 or email recycling@richmondshire.gov.uk
Other useful contacts
Home Composting
To order a home compost bin telephone 0845 077 0758.
Mail Preference Service
To remove your name from direct mailing lists: Tel 0845
7034599, FREEPOST 29 LON 20771, London W1E 0ZT or fill in a form
online at www.mpsonline.org.uk
Real Nappies
Offers for real Nappies are now availabe through NYCC.
Please follow the link to the Partnership
website to find out more about these offers. Call the
Real Nappy Helpline for details of your local nappy retailer or
laundry service 0845 8500606. Or visit www.realnappycampaign.com
or www.wen.org.uk
Mobile Phones
For more information visit Fonebak at www.fonebak.com
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Last updated:
15 February 2008
