Christmas may be the time of giving, but unfortunately it’s the time of chucking out, too.
Unwanted clothes, electrical items, books, cards and even furniture can all find themselves wrapped up prettily beneath the tree one day and out in the bins the next.
The Government agency Waste Online reckons that the season’s increases in eating, drinking and spending results in an estimated three million extra tonnes of waste.
But that doesn’t mean that this Christmas need be an ecological disaster for you or the planet. By following a few tips and advice on how best to recycle everything from your leftovers to that old DVD player, now’s your chance to see 2009 out with a green bang and usher in an entirely eco-friendly new decade.
CARDS
Many Christmas cards can be recycled in your green recycling bin as part of your paper recycling. But you can also take them to special Christmas card recycling points, as provided by Tesco and WH Smith.
Alternatively, you could turn the cards into a bit of an art project, says Laura Underwood of the Government’s Recycle Now campaign: “Save some of the prettier cards and cut out the pictures – they make perfect gift tags for next year.”
TREES
Don’t just dump your Christmas tree in the bin or burn it in the garden – recycle it instead.
According to Waste Online, only one out of every seven trees gets recycled, so make yours count! Get in touch with your local council, many of which now provide a tree recycling service, and see your tree get turned into mulch, rather than end up in landfill.
ELECTRONICS
If you were lucky enough to get a new phone, iPod or laptop in your stocking this year, remember that you can recycle the old ones – as well as many old electrical items lying around the house.
In fact, if every household returned just one item for recycling, the UK could reprocess more than 24,500 tonnes of unwanted small electrical items into new goods, according to Recycle Now.
“Electronic products can contain valuable materials including iron, copper and even gold,” says Recycle Now’s Gerrard Fisher.
“One iron contains enough steel for 13 food cans. The plastic can be recycled and so can help to save non-renewable fossil fuel resources.
Reusing these materials means we can make best use of our scarce natural resources and make a real difference.”
So what exactly can you recycle? Anything with batteries, a plug or a charger – like kettles, games consoles or hair straighteners.
Find your local electrical recycling centre by logging on to www.recyclenow.com
FURNITURE
Making room for a new sofa, bed or kitchen table? Donate the old ones to the Community Recycling Network (www.crn.org.uk) or Furniture Re-Use Network (www.frn.org.uk), which can distribute the furniture and household goods to be used again.
You can also try to flog the furniture for a bit of extra cash on Preloved (www.preloved.
co.uk), eBay or Gumtree (www.gumtree.com).
CLOTHES
Whether it’s a knackered bra or once-worn Levi’s, unwanted items of clothing can be taken to a charity of your choice or a recycling bank.
Many kerbside recycling schemes also accept textiles like clothes and shoes, even if the items seem unwearable. Check www.recyclenow.com for details of where you can recycle textiles near you.
Bear in mind, however, that charity shops can really benefit from your unwanted clothes, says mental health charity Mind’s chief executive, Paul Farmer.
“Charity shops are experts at making good use of second hand items,” he says.
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8 Comments
Is this the same Shropshire Star that’s been telling us to, spend to the end, and shop til we drop year after year so we can support the shopkeepers?
Even the local MP was calling on the public to support buisiness and now were told we wasted our money on junk!
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I think this is a great help to all of us that want to do more to save the planet, the more information that is give to people with practical tips the more will get done.
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alternatively if you are from the council , just burn the lot of it regardless of the local communities wishes
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since when is waste online a government agency
this journalist has got his facts wrong
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Throwing something away? STOP!! If you live in the Telford area, please offer your reusable items to other group members on Telford’s Freegle website. Keep it out of landfill by recycling it!
Telford Freegle group matches people who have things they need to get rid of, with people who can use them. Our goal is to keep usable items out of the landfill.
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sensible advice really good old fashioned common sense my gran would have said
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well said emma also freecycle dot org is good for this and dont forget the charity shops. in shrewsbury you can ring the sue ryder shop and they will come and collect (anything in good working order – tv’s, sofas, clothes etc)
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i have loads of plastic waste which in many areas is collected for recyclign but our council is too cheap and lazy to bother
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