Waste less guide

Here are some more of our top tips to help you waste less and recycle more:

• Regardless of whether they are clean or used, nappies always go in your black bin. Never put nappies in your blue bin as they contaminate the rest of the recycling.
• Keep your recycling box/bin next to your rubbish bin and talk to everyone in your home about what to recycle.
• Flatten your boxes and squash plastic bottle, tubs and pots, drink and soup cartons, add newspapers, greetings cards, empty aerosol cans and clean aluminium foil. 
• Is it aluminium? Scrunch foil together and if it scrunches up it’s aluminium and can go in your blue bin. If it springs back it’s plastic and should go in your black bin.
• If bagging recycling, make sure you use a clear(ish) bag so our crew can check that all your waste can be recycled. Better still, just tip the recyclables out of the bag into your blue bin.
• Before putting cardboard boxes in your blue bin, remove any tape and flatten them.
• Batteries do not go in any of your bins. Take them to your local supermarket to recycle or to your nearest household recycling centre (tip).
• You can’t recycle crisp packets, pet food pouches, polystyrene, sticky tape and small sections of plastic. Please put these in your black bin.
• Please take all broken electronics to your local household recycling centre (tip) so they can be recycled.
• Glass, tin cans and aluminium foil can be recycled endlessly while most plastics can only be recycled once.
• Use refillable water bottles and coffee cups and remember to take them with you to use when you’re out and about.
• When shopping look for unpackaged products, such as loose fruit and veg, and remember to reuse any fruit and veg bags.
• Avoid disposable items - use low energy light bulbs and rechargeable batteries and switch to real nappies.
• Buy a home composter and recycle your food waste and add garden waste to the mix. It’s cheaper and better for the environment.
• Always remember to take shopping bags with you and reuse smaller plastic bags for your fruit and veg.
• Buy in bulk to reduce packaging but make sure you will be able to use the products before their use by date, so as not to waste any food.
• Take any old clothes, shoes, DVDs, CDs, books and knick-knacks to charity shops.
• Consider having milk delivered to your door to reuse your milk bottles, if there is a local service running near you.
• If you use squeezy bottles for things like tomato sauce, mayonnaise, sandwich spreads and condiments, consider changing to glass. They are generally cheaper to buy and it cuts the plastic used.
• Buy your pet food in cans rather than pouches. Tin cans are easy to recycle and generally cost less than pouches, which can’t be recycled.
• Use soap bars instead of soap dispensers or buy refills. You can also buy shampoo bars from some shops and make your own non-toxic cleaning sprays. You will find lots of tips online if you search for DIY cleaning products.
• Ditch the straws – just drink from the glass.
• Make your own non-toxic spray cleaner – 1/3 vinegar 2/3 water plus citrus peel and store in an old spray bottle.
• Rediscover your butchers, greengrocers and markets to buy products that use less packaging and support local supply chains.