Recycling advice needed!

[Philomena]

I've got a bit of time on my hands due to maternity leave (baby not here yet!) and I have decided that I want to recycle more than just paper.

The council will pick up anything we put in our red box but the box isn't very big! I'm happy to take a trip out to the local supermarket every so often to recycle stuff that won't fit into our red box. Basically our weekly newspapers fill up the box.

I'd like some advice on how to organise this and what to recycle - I'd like to to recycle as much as is humanly possible but I'm a bit new to this!

We have a garage and I thought about having different boxes for different types of recycling. What should I start recycling? My DH already "recycles" glass jars by washing them and using them for nails and things like that for his tool cupboard, so I don't think I need a box for them.

Where to start?

If you want storage for your recycling, can recommend stacking bins (we have 2 of the Convert ones in that link). But we just have one for all the stuff that goes in the recycling box (glass, paper, plastic, cans etc) and the other for the cardboard, for which we have a separate bin. Maybe the first step is to suss out exactly what you can recycle where, as there's no point driving huge distances to recycle things - kind of cancels out the benefits.

we have three boxes, one for glass, one for plastic bottles and tin cans and one for paper and card. I also take any old clothes to the recycling bank, and bag up garden waste and take that to the center too (not sure what exactly they do with that!). Our local tesco also collects old music, videos and things like that too. I take printer cartridges/ mobile phones to starbucks where they collect for charity.

We recycle glass bottles and plastic bottles (milk bottles, soda bottles etc) - picked up every fortnight by the council. also tin cans (wash them and remove the label, put that in paper recycling.
Paper also picked up in a kerbside collection.
Cardboard we take to our nearest shopping centre (10 min walk away) every week or so.
Veg peelings/apple cores etc into the kitchen compost and thence to the composter outside.
It?s very rare that our black bin (collected once a fortnight) is anything like full and that?s with 3 children (only one nappy a day tho) so it is possible.

We recycle newspapers, glass bottles&jars and tins&foil, collected by local council. We also have a seperate container they collect for food waste, although all the veg peelings etc. go on the compost heap. Also take plastic bottles, clothes, plastic bags and cardboard to local recycling centre. Look out for schemes for recycling christmas cards, the woodland trust usually do collections through shops after christmas.

Forgot to mention, a great way to reduce your waste is using washable nappies too, I'd recommend them, theres loads of advice on the nappies/potty training topic.

just wanted to add that its probably more important to be an aware consumer as far as un-necessary/non-recyclable packaging is concerned.

I didn't think cardboard juice containers were generally recyclable - can anybody enlighten me here?

I think the tetrapak type things aren't generally easy to recycle, because I think they have foil on the inside (may be wrong..).

Wow...thanks for all the replies.

I was going to use cotton nappies but my MIL has boought me enough newborn nappies to last, so I'm going to start using them when I run out of disposables.

Might take a trip to Homebase to buy some suitable containers for my recycling station in the garage.

Do you think doing this counts as nesting? At 38 weeks pregnant I'm looking for signs of the end now!

I don't have much room for recycle storage, so I have got 3 of the tickled pink carriers from asda on a wasted bit of worktop.

We have a blue bin for paper and we can put a box out with glass and cans in (I don't use that).

One bag for plastic bags and other thin plastics - This goes to the plastic bag recycle point at Tescos, it says only plastic bags but I know other plastics go in the same pile once through the in the stockroom, so I know they can recycle more than just bags.

Second bag for plastic bottles and cans - I have a council skip across the road where these go. They like you to remove the lids and wash out.

Third bag for paper and card,- This goes into my blue, but saves going outside evrytime you want to chuck and envelope.

I use 4 more of the bags for my shopping now and decided to refuse plastic bags when ever I can.

contact your council for their recycling guide

ours do a booklet; I don't think there's anything you could throw away after reading it, even tells you where to get rid of paint and batteries etc

do you have a swapshop or freecycle in your area? they are my favourite things