In the UK we produce enough rubbish each year from our homes to
fill 3.5 million double-decker buses. These buses in a queue would
stretch from London to Sydney in Australia and back!
The alternative ways of dealing with our rubbish, other than
throwing it in the bin, are known as the three
Rs, which stands for:
This is often called the waste
hierarchy, as it not only shows us the alternative
ways of dealing with our rubbish but also puts them in a ranking
order of preference, with the best method which has the least
environmental impact at the top.
Reduce
The best way to deal with our rubbish is not to produce it in
the first place!
Below are some simple ways to reduce the amount of
rubbish you produce:
To stop junk mail from being delivered
to your door, have your name and address removed from 95% of the
direct mailing lists used by companies, by contacting the
Mailing
Preference Service.
Tick the boxes stating that you do not wish to receive future
information.
Use paper that only has print on one side for scrap paper.
Buy concentrated and re-fillable
products.
Buy loose fruit and vegetables, rather than pre-packaged.
Join a local fruit and vegetable-box scheme.
Avoid using non-recyclable products where possible.
Instead of using disposable single use batteries, use
rechargeable batteries.
Take a shopping bag to the supermarket or buy a “bag for
life”.
Have things mended instead of just throwing them away.
Join the library instead of buying books.
Take a packed lunch to work or school instead of buying
pre-packed sandwiches.
Swap your standard light bulbs for longer lasting low-energy
bulbs.
Use Real Nappies instead of
disposable nappies.
The City of London has a Real Nappy Scheme which offers City
parents a cash-back award towards the cost of purchasing real
nappies or using a real nappy laundry service. For more details see
our
Real Nappy Scheme page.
Reuse
Before you throw something away, stop to think about ways that
the item can be reused.
Below are some simple ways to reuse everyday
items:
The Toynbee Hall charity, which offers advice
and support to local people in Tower Hamlets, desperately needs
your unwanted furniture, clothes, household goods, working
electrical items, books, CDs, etc, to sell in their Charity
Shop.
Not only do donations to the Charity Shop help raise money to fund
their programmes, with more valuable items sold at auctions or to
specialist dealers, it also provides reasonably priced items to
local people in a deprived area.
Donating to Toynbee Hall couldn’t be easier as they will come and
collect your items from you!
To arrange a collection, please contact The Toynbee Hall on 020
7392 2933.
Donate your old clothes, books, CDs and household items to charity
shops. There are also a number of textile collection banks in the
City.
Take carrier bags back to the supermarket with you and reuse
them again.
Carrier bags can also be reused as bin liners.
Advertise things that you don’t
want anymore on the
London Freecycle Network, which provides a
forum for reusing unwanted items. You can also post items that
you want to give away on
Gumtree.
Send your old mobile phones to charities to be reused or
recycled.
Donate your old spectacles to
Vision Aid Overseas through many opticians’
practices, including every Vision Express. Ask your local opticians
if they are involved in the scheme.
Donate unwanted tools to Tools for Self Reliance, a charity which
renovates them for use and passes them onto workers in Africa
Sell your unwanted items on eBay or
Gumtree.
Recycle
If it’s not possible to reduce your rubbish, or reuse it, then
you might be able to recycle it.
Recycling is the process of taking something that we don’t need
anymore and using the materials that it’s made from to make
something new.
This can be into the same thing, e.g. you can recycle paper into
more paper, or into something different, eg 25 plastic bottles can
be used to make a fleece jumper!
Below are some simple ways to recycle everyday
items:
City of London recycling services
The City of London provides a clear sack recycling service
to all households in the City for paper, cardboard, glass bottles
and jars, tins and cans, and plastic bottles.
To find out about the type of recycling collection service
available from your property and what materials you can recycle,
please see
Clear Sack Recycling Service.
If you live on the Middlesex Street, Mansell Street or Golden
Lane Estates, you can send your food waste for composting by using
your Food waste collection service.
Other opportunities for recycling
Newspaper recycling bins
There are currently nine newspaper recycling bins located around
the City. They can be found outside the following tube
stations:
• Cannon Street
• Bank
• Liverpool Street
• Blackfriars
• Holborn Viaduct
Batteries
Currys Digital stores have recycling bins for batteries. City
stores include:
• 123 Holborn, EC1N 2TD
• 14-17 Old Broad Street, EC2V 1DW
Is there a recycling centre that residents in the City can
use?
Tower Hamlets have given permission for City residents to use their
recycling centre at Northumberland Wharf. Contact details and
opening times are below:
Yabsley Street
Isle of Dogs
E14 9RG
Tel 020 7538 4526
Opening hours
Monday -Saturday: 8.00am - 8.00pm
Sunday: 9.00am - 8.00pm
The recycling centre accepts the following material, all of which
is recycled:
Car batteries
Household batteries
Books
Aluminium foil
Yellow Pages
Cans
Mobile phones
Newspaper and magazines
Clear glass
Brown glass
Green glass
Textiles
Green waste (including Christmas trees )
Cardboard
Mixed scrap metal (including White Goods)
Christmas cards
Paint
Furniture
Media (Including CDs, audio and video tapes etc.)
Fridges
Visit the Tower Hamlets
website for more information.
Buy recycled
Remember, it’s not just important to recycle your waste, it’s
also important to buy products made of recycled
material.
Buying recycled products creates demand for recycled materials. If
there is no use or market for all the recycled material, then
manufacturers will stop demanding it and local authorities will
find it hard to find end-users for all the materials it
collects.
When you are recycling your rubbish and also buying products made
of recycled materials – you are said to be “closing the
loop”.
Recycling waste material is only one element of the recycling loop.
Buying recycled content products and materials not only closes the
loop but also helps to keep the recycling market viable.
Useful links
Book Aid
International
Redistributes Books Overseas
Capital
Waste Facts
Information & data about recycling and waste management in
London
Direct
Marketing Association
Explains direct marketing and how to control it
Ecocentric
Eco-friendly design products for home and lifestyle
Energy Saving
Trust
Information and advice to encourage energy efficiency in homes
Freecycle
London Network
Offers a forum for Londoners to advertise items that are no longer
needed, for reuse
Furniture Re-use
Network
Lists furniture re-use projects across the country
Good
Energy
Company supplying electricity from wind, hydro, and solar power
generators.
Mail
Preference Service
Free service to enable consumers to have their names and home
addresses in the UK removed from mailing lists used by
companies
The
Ethical Consumer
Website for the Ethical Consumer Magazine
The good
Shopping Guide
An ethical shopping search tool from The
Good Shopping Guide
The Green
Guide Online
Website for the Green Guide directories and Pure Living
Magazine
The Nappy
Site
Offers a platform for buying and selling used real
nappies and sharing advice with ither parents
The Real Nappy
Association
Details and advice on real nappies
Recycle
for London
Details of what you can recycle in your borough, recycling news and
information
Recycling
Supermarket
Up-to-date news, information and guides on recycling, waste
management and the environment
Tools for Self
Reliance
Redistributes tools overseas
Vision Aid
Overseas
Donate your spectacles for use overseas
Waste
Watch
Information, publications and advice on sustainable
resource use