I would absolutely love being one of those environmentalist, tree dwellers, living off the land, up-cycling bits of old furniture, no waste etc. No stress, no fuss.

However lets get real, it’s not happening anytime soon and I’m pretty sure Christopher would miss his PS4 after the first hour, Chris would freak out without a proper cup of tea and I wouldn’t be able to regularly post to my blog…

We enjoy life’s luxuries. That doesn’t mean we can’t be conscious of our impact on the environment.

I will recycle everything I can and I hate seeing things being thrown away that can be easily recycled or re-used.

Your local council will have lists of things that can be recycled in your area on their website and they have handy little stickers that you can put somewhere in your kitchen to remind you of collection dates.

Find my local council. (UK only)

By now I imagine that most people have separate bins in their homes. One for general waste (mainly food, sanitary items, things that can’t be recycled) and one for recycling (paper, card, plastic, glass, cans, tins etc.) All recyclable items can now go in the same bin, whereas previously we had to separate them so it’s even easier. Just rinse them (no need to wash them thoroughly or remove labels).

It’s really not difficult and helps to reduce the size of our landfills which in turn cuts down on water and air pollution and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

In our efforts to recycle more materials we are also creating more jobs across the country. This includes bin collectors and recycling centre workers.

Reduce, re-use, recycle.

The best way to reduce the amount of things we throw away is to reduce the amount of things we buy. This could take some getting use to and will need some strategic planning if you tend to splurge, or over do it on the food shop.

Cutting down on the shopping.

• Make a list of everything you buy in a month, then ruthlessly go through that list and cut it by half.
• Look for products that use less packaging.
• Never food shop on an empty stomach.
• Don’t go for 2 for 1 offers if you don’t really need it.

Reducing food waste.

• Don’t over buy. If you plan your meals in advance you will always know exactly what you need to buy. Check out Budget Mum’s for some meal planning ideas 🙂
• If you find that you have made too much just freeze the leftovers or keep it in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch.
• Get a bird table and give suitable leftovers to the birds. Here’s a good website offering tips for what you should and shouldn’t feed them, Kitchen scraps to feed birds.
• Invest in a compost bin.

Other ways to reduce waste.

• Clothes and shoes – I hate to see people throw away clothes, please donate them to a charity shop or organise a clothes swapping party for friends.
• Donate clothes to animal shelters if they aren’t charity shop worthy or to a friend with fur babies. Some clothes (especially socks with holes) make excellent beds for critters.
• Instead of throwing away old Christmas cards why not reuse them as Christmas tags for next year?

There are plenty of ways to recycle or re-use many of the items in your home that you might usually throw away. A quick Google search will find you great ways to up-cycle, recycle, reduce or reuse most items in your home. Have fun! And feel free to give me any of your own hints and tips on recycling 🙂