Now that 2020 has arrived, we’re in the best possible position to take a look around the home and find some New Year’s resolutions to make the world a better place.
Although many people do indeed make New Year’s commitments for themselves, there’s no reason why one or two can’t be made about the home.
With that in mind, here are our top resolutions for recycling in and about the house for 2020:
In the kitchen
The kitchen is one of the best areas in the home where you can recycle, with an abundance of disposable packaging, bags, and of course food, being found there.
Over the course of a single year, the average family in the UK throws away £680 worth of food — a similar sum to the average annual utility bill.
At the same time, rotting food releases a lot of methane, which is a powerful greenhouse gas, but much of this can be averted.
Many different types of food can be recycled, including tea bags, coffee grounds, eggs, rice, pasta, raw and cooked meat, and even bones.
Uneaten food can be collected in several ways and can be commercially composted or used for anaerobic digestion at a local facility.
Government charity, Recycle Now, offers some brilliant information on how to dispose of and recycle food waste.
In the living room
When it comes to the living room, there might be less objects that you can recycle, but they are perhaps more obvious.
Newspapers, letters, magazines, and even electronics are open for recycling.
Although local authorities offer regular paper recycling services, the same cannot be said for electronic recycling.
If for instance you want to recycle a television, an old hi-fi system, or other homeware, you can take your unwanted electricals to charity shops, or investigate non-profit movements like freecycle.org.
In the bedroom
Although you might not consider the bedroom to be a treasure of recyclable material, the truth is that everything from your mattress to your pillows can be reused and or recycled.
As mattresses tend to get replaced every ten years, there aren’t too many places where you can get them recycled.
You can however check with your local council, who might remove and recycle large items such as mattresses, wardrobes, sideboards, carpets, and dismantled furniture.
You can also take most types of clothing, from sweatshirts to handbags, to local charities, textile banks, and re-use organisations.
In the garden
Although gardening and recycling might be the same thing to some people, there are a range of small, but extra lengths you can go to recycle in your garden.
Food scraps, and other items such as cardboard, plant cuttings, animal bedding, and coffee filters can be used for compost, and you can even use everyday household objects to your advantage.
For example, fizzy drinks bottles can be used as mini cloches, and even takeaway containers can be used for little seed trays if drainage holes are made in the bottom.
If you’re looking to get out and about in the garden this year, it’s worth knowing that we now stock a range of gardening tools and accessories in our store.