Why is it Important to Reduce, Re-use & Recycle?

Currently, any waste that is not recycled is put into landfill.  There are over 1500 landfill sites in the UK and as the degradable materials in them break down methane is produced, one of the greenhouse gases. The other problem is that we are running out of space for landfill so sending less to landfill would help in two ways; less methane and fewer landfill sites. This is the importance of recycling and changing our ways to reduce, re-use and recycle.

In order to do this we need to reduce the amount of waste in the first place, this responsibility rests with manufacturers as well as the individual. Companies can help by using less packaging, a cardboard sleeve on a ready meal rather than a cardboard box is one example. We need to dispose of packaging responsibly, separate the plastic and cardboard before we take them to a recycling centre or put them out for our local council to collect.

When possible we should try and re-use something rather than buy new, do you need to buy the latest mobile phone every few months or could you keep one a bit longer? If you have mobile phones lying around unused ask family and friends if they would like to use them, what might be out of date to you could be considered extremely hi-tech by your gran!  And if no body can use them don’t put them in the bin, the plastic and metals in mobile phones can be stripped and recycled.

Only print off documents that you really need and try to get into the habit of printing on both sides of paper. Duplex units can be used on many printers which automatically enable them to print on both sides without you having to turn the paper over. If you do have paper that is just printed on one side use the blank side for notes or if it isn’t sensitive material take it home and let the kids use it for drawing paper! After all of this then you can recycle! Reduce, re-use and recycle, it’s easy; use less paper to begin with, re-use what you can and recycle it rather than binning it. And a fact worth remembering is that it takes less energy to produce recycled paper than it does to produce new paper.

Recycling also preserves the earth’s resources; rather than using up all the raw materials and dumping things we no longer want in landfill, we should use our old stuff to make new products.

There are many ways to reduce, re-use and recycle. Post your tips here: