Recycling
Recycling is a very important part of enjoying the good life as the mountains of rubbish - 4 million tons in Wales alone - that we create each year are a waste of valuable resources. There are lots of things that you can do to help the situation.
Stop junk mail
Register with the mailing preference service to stop unwanted mail coming through your door. Register online www.mpsonline.org.uk |or call 0845 703 4599.
Help Charity Shops
Take along unwanted books, toys and kitchenware to your local charity shop for someone else to use. Check what your local shop accepts before taking your unwanted good quality junk along. Remember clothes, textiles and paired shoes can also be placed in your black recycling box.
Use Cotton Nappies
In the UK, 8 million disposable nappies are thrown away every day. Each nappy takes between 200 and 500 years to rot away. If you would like advice on where you can purchase cotton nappies or would like to find out more about using them visit www.realnappies-wales.org.uk|
or call the Sustainable Wales Nappy Advice Line on 0845 4562477.
Buy recycled
Look out for everyday items when you go shopping such as kitchen roll, greetings cards, bin bags and printer paper. For ideas visit: www.recyclenow.com| It’s in the bag!
Use Reusable Cloth Shopping Bags
A staggering 150 million plastic carrier bags are used in the UK every week, and each one takes around 100 years to rot away in a landfill site. Try using a reusable cloth shopping bag when you do your weekly shop or buy a ‘bag for life’ from the supermarket and cut down on the amount of carrier bags you use each week.
Buy A Composting Bin
Composting bins are a great way of creating your own compost and for gardeners the initial outlay can be recovered very quickly. Did you know that Torfaen County Borough Customers are entitled to a special discount price composter? Use this link to find out more about discounted compost converters and water saving butts|.
Below you will find more links to websites that are full of information on recycling.
Waste Awareness Wales
http://www.wasteawarenesswales.org.uk/index.html?menuid=1&diablo.lang=eng|
eFreeko - a site where you can recycle unwanted items for free
http://www.efreeko.co.uk/|