Education & Tips

Dear Recycling Bins... I try to do my bit for the environment, but at the moment I’m struggling. The cost of everything is going up at an unbelievable rate. Are there any ways that I can help the environment and get rewards? Could I get paid for recycling?

Thank you for your question. The cost of living is soaring at the moment so every little saving helps. The good news is that yes, you can get paid for recycling! Here are some ways you can have more cash in your pocket and send less to landfills.

Living environmentally friendly as a student is not all about buying expensive organic sustainable products. Money is often a concern for students, however, there are plenty of cheap ways to live sustainably. Here’s how to be an environmentally friendly student on a budget.

Your online business couldn’t function without plastic packaging. But as you send out another order packed with Styrofoam peanuts or wrapped in a plastic bag, stop. What if you could reduce your footprint and your costs in one go? Here are the affordable plastic alternatives you should be using.

Many of us are making more of an effort to recycle at home now. More businesses are becoming eco-savvy. But what about schools? School recycling could make a huge difference to the fight against climate change. Here’s how.

School recycling bins play a huge part in reducing waste. With just over 32,000 schools in the UK, there’s a lot of waste to deal with. However investing in recycling bins for your school doesn’t just help the planet. It keeps your waste disposal costs down.

Have you ever wondered what happens to your recycled food waste once you have put it in your food waste recycling bin? Is it composted? Does it generate green energy? Well, that depends on your local authority and how committed they are to combating global warming and lowering carbon emissions.

Sadly, much of our recycled food waste goes straight to landfill, where it degrades and produces harmful greenhouse gasses such as methane. To overcome this, we need to reduce the amount of food we waste, redistribute edible food to those in need, and turn it into animal feed. But there’s only so much we can do at home.

Here we’ll explain what happens to your recycled food waste, what food producers and manufacturers need to do to help lower this global problem, and what you can do to reduce the amount of food wasted at home.

It’s time to clear out your wardrobe and maybe the linen cupboard while you’re at it. But what do you do with all those unwanted clothes, blankets, and duvet covers? Before you throw them away, stop and think about whether you can recycle or reuse them. Check out our clothes recycling tips here...

Dear Recycling Bins, I’m a bit of a wine connoisseur. There’s nothing better than a bottle of red at the end of the week to wind down from the busyness of life. However, I have built up quite a collection of corks. I read somewhere that I can’t recycle wine corks, is that true? If I can’t recycle them, what should I do with them?

Thank you for your question! Synthetic corks and screw tops can go into your recycling bin.  However, natural cork is not accepted by recycling schemes. You shouldn’t put it in your waste bin either, as most won’t break down on landfill. But don’t worry, there are ways that you can recycle wine corks.

Reduce, reuse, recycle. It’s more than a mantra, it’s what we need to do to slow down the frightening pace of climate change.

The recent IPCC report on climate change was a ‘code red for humanity.’ It stated that human activity is changing the climate in unprecedented and sometimes irreversible ways. It warned of the impact of doing nothing, from extreme heat waves to droughts and flooding. But it also offered some hope. If we cut greenhouse gas emissions, it could stabilise global temperatures. But we have to act now.

Dear Recycling Bins,

I’m officially fed up with recycling! Of course, I want to do my bit for the planet. However, all the sorting, washing, and confusion has made it a real chore. How can I make recycling easy?

Thank you for your question and we definitely understand your pain! Recycling can seem like a chore and the rules can be confusing. On the other hand, in light of the recent ‘code red’ climate report, recycling is still so important for the planet.