Recycling, are you doing it right?

Today is World Environment Day. Now more then ever we are realising that our production and consumption cannot go on at the rate we have.

We all need to play our part by learning and putting The 4 R’s Refuse, Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle into action…
Refuse- plastic shopping bags and excess packaging material
Reduce- the waste you produce.
Reuse- reuse packaging, bags and containers. Repair items instead of throwing them out. Sell your unwanted items, if you can’t reuse it someone else can.
Recycle- There will be things that the above 3 do not apply. Many items can be recycled these days, contact your local council for advice on recycling in your area.

Australians are one of the worlds biggest waste producers. In 2006-7 Australian households threw out a staggering 41,402,000 tonnes of garbage. With each person producing about 1,900kgs. Only 49% of this garbage was recycled.

For ever very 10 tonnes of recyclable materials recovered is equivalent to:

• taking four cars off the road permanently
• providing a year’s electricity for 14.5 households, and
• saving enough water to fill 3.5 average backyard swimming pools

Recycling, if done properly can have a great impact on our families eco footprint. But is everyone really sure they are doing it right?

Many councils now offer kerb side recycling,  this is the most popular form of recycling. Here are some tips to get the most out of your household recycling..

• Be sure to sort everything. Check for and remove any non recyclable contaminants such as plastic bags, lids and ovenproof glass. Just a small about can ruin an entire recycling collection load.
• Before placing glass, cans, milk cartons and plastic drink containers into the bins, remove any lids, and rinse and squash containers and boxes. Especially rinse food containers and dispose of food scraps (in the compost if possible) – old food is not only unpleasant, it attracts vermin and reduces recycling opportunities.
• Look for the recyclable symbol on plastic containers and look for the numbers – Be sure to check your councils requirements, most councils collect numbers 1, 2 and 3, and some also accept 4, 5, 6, and 7.

For things that may not go into your regular kerb side collection, you can check out Recycling near you. Here you can search by area or product and it will give you a list of council and private companies who offer recycling.

Filed Under: Environment