Posted on 6th July 2018 by Hintons
Recycling is an idea which appeals to many, but that doesn’t make it easy to adopt into your home life – in fact, it can be quite tricky. With the renewed push against plastic, and growing awareness of recycling in general, we thought it would be helpful to show off some of the simple household recycling techniques you can adopt into your daily routine.
1. Reduce your waste
The first rule in ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ mantra. Reducing the waste you produce from the start means you rely less on landfill and environmentally unfriendly products. There are plenty of ways to cut your consumption, including:
- Buying reusable products – refillable water bottles and coffee cups, for example
- Only buying what you need – a tough one, but audit your household consumption and change your buying habits as necessary. Take this in small steps and you’ll soon realise how easy it is
- Give away unwanted belongings – a thorough clearout is always satisfying, but throwing out old appliances, toys, clothes and paraphernalia won’t help the environment. Instead, sell or donate unwanted items so they’re reused instead of wasted
- Go electronic – instead of receiving statements or regular post in physical form, opt for electronic delivery instead. This cuts the amount of waste coming in and out of your home, and reduces the carbon footprint involved in manufacturing and delivery
2. Repurpose items
A lot of things you deem as ‘rubbish’ can actually be reused instead of chucked out. Jam jars and glass bottles, carrier bags, cardboard boxes, bubble wrap – get creative and repurpose items you thought had outlived their usefulness. Whether for art projects with your kids, or just for decoration or storage in your home, think before you throw.
3. Get to know the recycling rules
Unfortunately, not all household waste can be recycled, so it’s important to check what you can and cannot put into your recycling bin. Trying to recycle the unrecyclable is severely inefficient, so find out your local council’s recycling guidelines and stick to them. Also make sure to follow those extra little steps – such as rinsing tin cans, bottles and food containers before putting them in the recycling bin.
4. Recycle your green waste
Basically all your garden waste can be successfully recycled, so make sure every leaf, hedge cutting and ounce of compost is sent to the right place. If you have the space, you can set up a compost heap to encourage the local ecology, or you can fill your garden waste bin if your local council operates a collection scheme.
5. Recycle batteries
You’ve probably spotted battery recycling spots in shops, and there’s nothing stopping you from doing the same at home. For any appliance that runs on AAs, AAAs, or any disposable battery, keep a container where you can keep old, run down batteries for future recycling. You can then use your your nearest battery recycling service to responsibly dispose of these hazardous items.
6. Use indoor recycling bins
Being lazy is easy. It’s usually much more simple to throw away empty drinks bottles, cans, cardboard packaging and the like instead of taking them outside to the recycling bin. Make recycling work around you by setting up a few small bins in your home for the different recyclable materials. One for clear plastics, one for paper/cardboard, one for glass. This diverts waste from the general rubbish bin, and makes it easier for you to recycle items in bulk, rather than one by one.
7. Buy sustainable products
Whether it’s bags for life or recycled paper, shop around and buy sustainable products rather than wasteful ones. Buying products made from recycled materials helps to keep you inside that recycling loop – so the landfill stays out of the picture entirely. Of course, this won’t be feasible for everything, but do some research and see what changes you can make, then make them one step at a time. An easy starting point is buying recyclable or reusable straws instead of plastic.
8. Use professional waste management services
If you need some guidance with your regular household recycling output, you can always seek the services of a professional waste management and recycling company. From the collection and processing of your waste, this eco-friendly service, such as the one offered by Hinton’s, will improve your efficiency rates by a drastic margin.
Hinton’s Waste is a licensed and sustainable waste processing company with a waste transfer and recycling centre serving Croydon, Sutton and London. We can collect and process your household waste, ensuring that at least 90% of your waste is recycled to the highest possible standards. To find out more, simply contact our friendly team today.