The Ecoants Recycling Guide
This recycling guide aims to give you some useful tips and ideas about what you can recycle, how you can recycle it and who can benefit from you recycling. There are many reasons why recycling helps to make the world a cleaner and more sustainable place both now and for our future. Recycling and reusing items certainly helps to reduce land and water pollution (from landfill sites for example) and it also helps to save energy and natural resources. Thus when we recycle and reuse we help to give the planet a much more sustainable future both in terms of preserving the resources we have and also reducing the negative polluting affects our wasteful habits have on our air, land and water environments..
Arguably almost anything and everything could be recycled or reused in some way such as your clothes, mobile phones, electronic gadgets, computers, plastic bottles, metal cans and even your organic household waste (such as potato peelings). Most recycling is relatively easy to do and takes up very little time. It can easily become a part of your daily routine and a good habit. We don't want to remain (or be remembered as) a throwaway consumer society anymore, nor can we realistically expect to continue to be one if we want to give our children and our planet a cleaner and more sustainable future.
Listed below are numerous ideas of which materials or consumer goods can be recycled or reused in some way. You may already do a lot of it which, if so, is fantastic! Even so perhaps there are some suggestions below which will inspire you to do a little more and in some cases perhaps also financially benefit a charity, school or maybe yourself.
Household Recycling
This should be one of the easiest ways to recycle as hopefully your local council/commune/authority already arranges a regular collection for everyday items such as paper, cardboard, aluminium cans, plastic bottles, tetra pack drink cartons, maybe even organic waste. If they don't then perhaps you can suggest that they start to by writing to your local representative. This form of recycling is simple and easy as it is just a case of putting the right products in the right recycling bags or bins. It normally states on the front of the bags or bins what items should be put in them.
Recycling Organic Household Waste (Composting)
You can recycle your own household's organic waste very easily using a composter. The resulting nutrient-rich compost will be a valuable addition to your garden. You can click the following link to find out more about composting your housewold waste.
Mobile Phone Recycling
Millions of mobile phones are replaced each year. Many are unnecessarily thrown away when they can be resold, reused or recycled. If you have never recycled your mobile phone then please click the link and find out how recycling your mobile phone can earn you money and/or benefit charity.
Printer Ink Cartridge Recycling
Many, many millions of printer ink cartridges are disposed of in landfill waste each year around the world. Why, when many of these can be recycled!? It's just a bad habit. What is even more incredible is that sometimes you can receive benefits for recycling printer ink cartidges so what is stopping us apart from laziness? Yet it only takes a few minutes of your time once you know what to do! If you (or your employer) have never recycled your printer ink cartridges then please click the link and find out how and where you can recycle printer ink cartidges and buy recycled cartridges.
Recycling using eBay
Most of us know what eBay is about and it gives you the perfect opportunity to ensure that stuff you don't want (CDs, DVDs, baby clothes, toys, games, etc...) can be reused by someone who does want it. You may be surprised at how many people will be interested in the things that no longer interest you! All you have to do is sell it to them! Click here to go to eBay.
Recycling and sell your unwanted items on Preloved
UK only -
Preloved is similar to eBay but with the key feature that if you are private individual you can list and sell your unwanted or second hand items for free. You can also of course buy here too.
It has a wide range of categories and an active forum. So don't throw away the things you no longer want, try and sell them here first! It's quick and simple to do. Please ensure you read the site's editorial guidelines.
Swap DVDs, games, CDs and books on Hitflip
Recycle your unwanted DVDs, games, CDs and books by swapping them for something you want on
Hitflip. You regsiter for free and can then list items you have and look for items you want. You must accumulate 'flips' which you can do by sending out media products (you pay the postage and packing) and by referring others to the site.
These flips can be traded for new media products that you want. For every item you receive there is a small transaction fee as detailed on the website. It's a novel idea that certainly helps ensure that products are recycled rather than thrown away or get stuck in the back of a drawer. We all have media
that we don't need or use so why not swap it for something you want?
Search for more information on recycling here...
This page is presently being added to, please check back soon for more ideas of what and how you can recycle and help reduce pollution and clean up our world or if you have your own please feel free to contact us with your suggestions.