What a Waste....
Did you know that each year in Britain we throw away 29 million tonnes of rubbish from homes, 17 million tonnes of this goes straight to landfill! It has been estimated that if we continue to increase the amount we throw away at the present rate we will be throwing away twice as much by 2020.
Sending our household waste to landfill comes at a cost, both in terms of money and potential pollution, and suitable sites are becoming more and more difficult to find. It is for this reason that the Council now chooses to deal with your waste in a more environmentally friendly way through recycling and composting as much as possible and it is why we are now asking our residents to......
Practice Purchasing Power!
- Buy products with less packaging - on average 25-35% of the waste in your bin is made up of packaging. Where it can't be avoided, always try to opt for products which have packaged in material that can be recycled. Many major retailers are now improving their packaging by lessening it, or by making it out of material that can be recycled more easily. Check product labels telling you what material is used to make the packaging.
- Avoid disposable products such as razors, tissues, cameras and paper or plastic cups & plates.
- With more stores now stocking cheap fashion, it so easy to end up buying clothes and then throwing them away when they are out of fashion. Do you really need to buy them? If you really can't resist a bargain, remember that charity shops or jumble sales are always happy to have them when you don't want them any more!
Get into Good Habits!
- Take your own bags to the supermarket, use cloth bags or use supermarket "bags for life." 150 million carrier bags are used in the UK each year. Most of these will only be used for around 3 minutes on average and will then end up in landfill. The length of time an ordinary carrier bag will take to break down in landfill has been estimated at anywhere from 500 - 1000 years!
- Use rechargeable batteries, solar or wind-up items - these will also save you money in the long run.
- Don’t buy products unless you really need them! Around a third of the food we buy in the UK ends up being wasted and thrown away. That’s around 6.7 million tonnes of food each year, or roughly around a third of the food we buy!
Steer clear of 'two for one' or 'three for the price of two' offers unless you are
really going to use the extra! It may seem like a bargain, but it is often this extra
food that ends up going to waste.
- Think before you throw! Can those left over vegetables or meat from the Sunday roast be used to make something else? The Love Food Hate Waste campaign aims at getting us to reduce the amount of food we throw away by becoming inventive with our leftovers. For more information on why North East Derbyshire District Council is proud to support the campaign, visit our Love Food Hate Waste page.
Wasting food has serious environmental implications too. Not only is food being
wasted, but also the energy, water and packaging used in the food's production,
transport and storage too. Food taken to landfill rots and releases methane, one
of the major greenhouse gases contributing to climate change.
- Store food in re-sealable containers rather than using cling film or foil.
Other Ways to Lighten The Load In Your Bin
- Look For The Label: Under European law, electrical waste must be disposed of correctly under the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive. Although the directive applies mainly to businesses, domestic appliances such as hairdryers, cameras and kettles should also be disposed of carefully if they can't be repaired.
The Civic Amenity Sites at Stonegravels and Buttermilk Lane, Bolsover, both have areas where you can take waste electrical items for them to be be disposed of properly.
Since 2007, new electrical items must carry the label on the left to show that they are classed as WEEE. For older items, you can easily tell; if it has a mains cable, needs charging or has replaceable batteries, it is most likely to be classed as WEEE.
- Cut down on junk mail - you can reduce the amount of junk mail you receive by contacting:
The Mailing Preference Service, DMA House,
70 Margaret St, London, W1 8SS
Tel: 0845 703 4599
Website: www.mpsonline.org.uk/
Remember, junk mail, magazine inserts and leaflets can all go in your blue bag so they don't need to clog up your bin, you can recycle them!
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