By by Svetlana Lungu From Why Matters Shopify agency

We all have our own list of excuses as to why we don’t recycle waste properly whether this be at home, at work or at school. Well, given the current climate crisis, there now really can be no excuse so perhaps a few practical tips might be useful even when you don’t think you have the time or the energy to recycle.

Let’s start by looking at some truly horrifying statistics in terms of waste which, unlike garbage that has no purpose, can have value providing it is properly sorted. Worldwide, urban solid waste production amounts to an ugly 1.4 billion tonnes, of which sadly 800 million tonnes finds its way to landfill sites.

So what can you do to help? The first step is to make sure your home has a recycling bin so that you can separate all your household waste into the appropriate recycling bin ready to either be collected or for you to take to a recycling centre. Obviously, it’s easier if your recycled waste is collected but, if not, find the easiest way for you to dispose of it to make sure the effort involved won’t put you off.

1. Justsayno

Make it your policy to refuse any sort of material you really don’t need and this applies particularly to packaging. Some supermarkets have already taken a step to help with this by providing receptacles where you can leave your packaging immediately after you have purchased something – like the box your tube of toothpaste comes in.

2. Comeclean

Before you put empty containers or packaging into the recycling bin, do make sure you clean them in the water you’ve used to wash the dishes or take some already used napkins to give them a wipe. Can you imagine how that unclean yoghurt pot or milk carton will smell at the end of its week long journey to the recycling site? Pretty horrible for the people whose job it is to recycle our waste.

3. Compost the squishy stuff

Waste that is damp, moist or squishy makes up almost half of the total amount of solid waste produced and when this ends up in landfill sites it then goes on to produce methane gas which pollutes the atmosphere 20 times more than carbon dioxide does. But this doesn’t have to happen because this type of waste can usually be composted – vegetable peelings, fruit skins and cores, the grounds of filter coffee, teabags, wet kitchen roll can all be composted to produce a great garden fertiliser.

4. Keep a clean sheet

When you’re throwing paper away, never crumple it up first, don’t fold it either, just keep it flat. Why? Keeping the paper intact in this way means that is worth more money in recycling terms because its fibres retain their strength and integrity enabling it to be recycled more times.

5. Scrappaper

Of course, there will be some paper that simply can’t be recycled – greaseproof paper, plastic coated paper, soiled toilet paper, shop and credit card payment receipts and paper that has been glued. Since this type of material can’t be recycled, try to reduce your use of it instead.

6. Cutglass

Since it is still expensive to recycle glass, we really should be trying to encourage the use of returnable glass bottles and glass containers. While this process is ongoing, meanwhile we should all try to reuse glass as much as possible. The glass product to avoid as much as you can is a bottle with a long neck as not only can’t these be returned for use, it is difficult to recycle them since the process shatters the necks into shards.

7. Tinthings

When you open a can of soft drink or beer, never remove the tab from the top of the can. These are so small, they will get lost among all the other household waste so will probably not reach the recycling bin.

8. Takethetube

Toothpaste tubes are produced from a type of plastic called low density polyethylene which can be recycled so make sure that after you have squeezed every last bit of toothpaste out of it, the tube goes straight in to the recycling bin.

9. Snackattack

Snacks are often packaged in a certain type of plastic that has been covered with a thin film of aluminium and although this can be recycled, it is an expensive process and not many recycling companies are willing to pay for this type of waste. So, unless you are sure that someone in your area is recycling this type of packaging, just try to avoid products that use it.

10. Take away tray

Often when you buy eat, fish or vegetables, these come on a polystyrene tray that is all then wrapped in clear plastic but unfortunately none of this is cheap to recycle because it is very real value. So, instead, why not take your own containers when you go shopping at the fishmongers or butchers – recycled plastic or glass containers would be ideal. Don’t forget that the stryofoam that electrical goods are packaged in can be recycled though so make sure this goes in the right recycling bin.

11.Toxic matters

Never throw waste that is hazardous into either the recycling or general waste disposal processes. Both the manufacturers and consumers of toxic goods have to take the responsibility for disposing of them appropriately which usually involves specific collection sites.

The blister packs that tablets normally come in are not recyclable so don’t put these in your plastics recycling bin because they will contain traces of medicinal compounds that could potentially harm the environment and they are often also made of a highly toxic type of plastic. Try to find a medical material collection site which will accept this type of plastic as well as unused medication.

Other items that have the potential to contaminate the environment such as printer cartridges, batteries and lamps should be taken to specific collection sites which can often be found at supermarkets – just do a little research to find somewhere

convenient for you. If you are going to dispose of ink cartridges, let them dry out for 24 hours first which will make it easier to recycle them.

As with the snack packaging, coffee capsules are also hard to recycle because of the type of materials they are made of – plastic and aluminium. If you can’t find a recycling site in store that most major coffee brands provide then maybe it’s time to think about buying a machine that uses ground coffee instead.

12.What really is garbage

Apart from the types of paper that can’t be recycled as mentioned above, there are quite a few other items that truly are garbage because they cannot enter the recycling process. This includes steel sponges, paper clips and film wrap, all of which need to go directly to landfill together with the damp garbage that can’t be composted such as solid diapers and used cat litter – all the stinky stuff basically!