What You Can Do To Help The Environment

It has been a while since I put my thoughts about the environment and trying to live more sustainably on paper. You will be seeing mixed opinions in the news and on social media. Some say global warming is a hoax, others tell us that if we don’t change everything we do right now, we will pass the point of no return. Wow! What a lot of pressure to put on us in our everyday lives. I mean, can we really make enough of a difference?

Either way, whatever you believe, it must be a good thing to try to live more sustainably. That means trying to create less pollution, reducing the amount of waste we produce, and making some changes in the way we do things. Many don’t know where to begin, and in my last piece I promised to talk about some of the changes my family managed to make in 2019.

We started this journey by accident, if we had looked at everything we could start doing, we wouldn’t have got off the starting blocks. It would have been too overwhelming! The rest of this article will outline some of the things you can start doing to try and make simple, easy changes in everyday life to start living more sustainably. Why? It’s simple, whatever you believe about global warming, we have a responsibility to try and look after the planet our children will inherit so that resources don’t run out, water stays clean enough to drink, and the air is clean enough to breathe.

Recycling

Find out more about recycling symbols and what you can and cannot recycle in your blue bags. If we put the wrong items in our blue bags the Council cannot sort and separate it, so it goes into landfill.

If you do an internet search on the different recycling logos on an item, you can find out whether or not it can go into your blue bags.

Don’t put cardboard or foil in your recycling bag that has food or grease on it. We have been rinsing tins and recyclable plastics for years (if you do it straight away before it dries on it is quick and easy), the benefit for you is that your rubbish won’t smell while you store it for two weeks between collections.

Remember, if you have foil scrunch it up into a ball. Foil needs to be about the size of a tennis ball for the magnets to be able to pick it out when they sort it at the recycling centres.

Did you know that there are some specialist recycling collection schemes? There are a few operating in your area. You can collect and deposit specialist items or get involved and support a local collection point.

When you next sort out your clothing, if it is good enough, bag it up and take it to a charity shop or donate it to a homeless scheme. If this is not convenient, you can find clothes recycling bins in the vicinity of many larger superstores. If you feel creative and you have the equipment to do so, you could try to upcycle your old clothes and get creative.

The obvious choice here is to reduce the amount of recycling you need to do in the first place. You can do this by buying loose vegetables, and by using reusable coffee cups and water bottles. They make bamboo cutlery, reusable straws, bamboo toothbrushes and they have come down in price a lot in recent months. We recently bought some spices and herbs in bulk because I got fed up recycling small glass jars, and it works out much cheaper to do so! If you don’t use that many herbs and spices you can get a group of friends together and split the cost and the product between you.

You can go to: https://www.recyclenow.com/ to find out more about recycling schemes in your area.

Recycling and reusing items is just one of many sustainable lifestyle choices you can make too. In the coming months I will write about other good environmental choices; some may help your budgets and others will support your health and well-being. Remember, you don’t have to do it all at once. Start small and add something new every week or month and before you know it you will be making a positive impact with very little effort.