Reduce, reuse and recycle

Waste reduction and recycling have a wide range of environmental benefits, they reduce:

• Demand for raw materials, which preserves natural resources and habitats.
• Energy use and pollution, which means that less waste goes to valuable landfill space,.
• Promotes public awareness and personal responsibility for the waste we create.

However, recycling has not actually taken place until we buy products made from recycled materials. For recycling to be economically viable and recycling schemes to be successful, there must be a market into which collectors of waste can sell their materials. Buying recycled creates a demand for the collected material, aiding the development of the materials reprocessing infrastructure and therefore increasing opportunities for recycling.

As well as helping the environment, buying recycled also helps to create investment in new industries and new jobs.

The process of buying recycled is called "closing the loop". A product can only be called recycled when it has been turned into a new product, so coming full circle. This process ensures that the supply of waste materials balances demand and stimulates the market in recycled products.

If each house in Calderdale gets just one item of junk mail a week, that is 4.5 million unwanted letters across each year.

To cut down the junk mail you get, contact the Mailing Preference Service:

• Address: Mail Preference Service, Freepost 22, London. W1E 7E2.
• Phone: 020 7291 3310.
• Website: Mail Preference Service.

To cut down on junk faxes, phone the Fax Preference Service: 020 7291 3320.

To stop hand delivered mail that is not addressed that your postal worker delivers, like magazines and flyers, write to:

• Address: Door to Door Help Line, Royal Mail, Beaumont House, Sandy Lane West, Oxford. OX4 6ZZ.
• Note: State that you no longer want to get non-addressed, hand-delivered mail. Make sure you include your full address and postcode.

In the UK we throw away 8.3 million tonnes of food and drink a year. For recipes, tips and tools to help you reduce food waste from the Love Food Hate Waste campaign go to Love Food Hate Waste.

Just because something is not useful to you, does not mean that it has no use. Many of the items we throw away each day can be useful. They can have a value to people who are not so well off, both in this country and abroad. We need to think carefully about how we dispose of some of these items, for example:

• I.T. equipment can be reused either locally or even abroad.
• Furniture and household equipment can be refurbished, usually through local authorities or community recycling groups.
• Unused paint can be put to good use thus reducing damage to the environment caused by dumping in landfill.
• What really seems like rubbish can be used for other purposes, such as:
  • Plastic drinks bottles as garden cloches for seedlings.
  • Carrier bag as a bin liner at home.

Furniture represents one of the most difficult items to dispose of. It is heavy, bulky and often there is a large quantity of it especially in house clearances. As a result, it is often thrown away. This is also a problem for us, as we often have to use specific vehicles to collect it.

You can donate many items of old furniture to:

British Heart Foundation

• Address: Halifax Retail Park, Halifax. HX1 5DF.
• Phone: (01422) 344740.

Chas Furniture Store

• Address: CHAS@STvincent's, Allenby House, Rees Way, Bradford. BD3 0DZ.
• Email: wyinfo@svp.org.uk.
• Phone: (01274) 726790.
• Website: CHAS@STvincent's

Pass it on

• Address: 394 Bradford Road, Fartown. Huddersfield. HD2 2QZ.
• Phone: 08456 341360.

Many everyday consumer items now contain electronic parts. Every year, around one million tonnes of waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE) is discarded by UK homes and business.

Dealing with this waste is an important issue! Rapid changes in technology mean our electronic appliances often go out of date quickly. Getting the latest model makes many items that are still in working order redundant.

The complex array of product types and materials make waste electrical and electronic equipment difficult to manage.

The main component of waste electronic and electrical equipment is large household appliances known as white goods (43%). The next largest component is IT equipment which accounts for 39%. Much of this is made up of computers, which rapidly become obsolete. Televisions also represent a large proportion, with an estimated 2 million TV sets being discarded each year.

Reusing and recycling is one way to reduce the environmental impact that these products have.

Where can I recycle my electrical equipment?

In Calderdale, the best way to deal with old electrical goods is to:

• Reuse. Pass them on to someone else who could use them if they are still in good working order.
• Donate to charity shops. Some accept electrical equipment, but please check with them first before taking your goods to them.
• Refurbish. hand them on to a company who can refurbish them.
• Recycle. Rather than put them in the bin, take them to your local HWRC. There they can be added to other scrap for recycling. If you have bulky items to recycle contact the Council to arrange collection.

DOT-COMmunications collect unwanted IT equipment. They repair, refurbish and re-distribute it to local not-for-profit organisations as part of the Microsoft Authorised Refurbisher scheme. Older, damaged or below minimum specification hardware is recycled in-house to above WEEE specifications. (All data is securely wiped to above MoD standard and any materials, which cannot be reused, are properly recycled). To find out more, visit: DOT - COMmunications .

• Around 25% of domestic paint bought goes unused.
• Disposal is very difficult because paint and its containers have several environmental impacts.
• Over 20 years old, it may contain hazardous substances now treated as 'special waste'.
• It cannot go in landfill, incinerators or drains due to the high chemical content that will cause pollution.
• It is better to 'dispose' of it by re-use:
  • Use in your own home.
  • Share it with a neighbour.
  • Give it to a community repaint scheme.

How you can reuse your paint

Community Repaint is a network of paint reuse schemes across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

leftover/re-usable paint is collected from households and given to those who need it, but cannot afford it.

• Paint tins must be at least one third full.
• Paint must be less than 10 years old, be in its original container and be suitable for domestic use.

For about this, visit: Community Repaint.

Reducing what we buy in the first place is the most effective way of reducing waste. If we don’t buy it in the first place it cannot, in the long term, become waste. Up to a quarter of the rubbish we throw away is packaging.

What we should be doing is Smart Shopping!

You could think about the following before buying a product:

• Do we really need the product?
• Do we need the additional packaging that is being offered?
• Are we being given something we just don’t want?
• Is there an alternative which does not create waste?
• Should we pay a little more now for something that will last much longer?

You can also consider the following when out shopping:

• Choosing products with less packaging.
• Buying loose vegetables and fruit where possible.
• Supporting the bag for life schemes.
• Re-using carrier bags.
• Choose refills where available.
• Use cloth nappies.
• Choose recycled products such as tissues, toilet rolls, kitchen towels, writing paper, pens, rulers and plant pots.
• Look out for the recycling symbol and the Buy Recycled logo.

If you follow these shop smart ideas you will put pressure on retailers to stock fewer items with unnecessary packaging. More packaging means more rubbish and higher prices.

If you do your bit and smart shop you will reduce the amount of rubbish we have to get rid of and you could save yourself money.