Resolutions for 2016 #36

In 2016 we will…

Recycle more.

So, how was your Christmas? Did you manage to get through it in unscathed? You didn’t burn the turkey or drink too much champagne and make a fool of yourself when playing charades with the in laws? And what about presents, did you get some nice things?

For many of us, the lead up to Christmas can sometimes be the best part of it, because all too often the big day arrives and in a flurry of paper, a feasting of pud and a downing of the dregs of mulled wine and before you know it it’s Boxing Day. Which is what got me thinking about this particular resolution…all the rubbish after Christmas! There’s the cards, the wrapping paper, the food waste, the glass bottles, packaging etc. and what do we do with it all? How many of can honestly say that over the Christmas period we spend our time separating cans from bottles? No, I’m pretty sure most of us don’t want to be dealing with such a boring job when there’s a glass of something fizzy waiting for us in the kitchen.

As a nation, we are certainly better than we ever have been at recycling, but we have also got a lot better at spending. Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s recent TV series, ‘Hugh’s War on Waste‘ highlighted just how much food us Brits throw away every week, and it’s not just the consumer, supermarkets have a lot to answer for when it comes to our total food waste too.  Worryingly, as much as a third of food in the UK never gets eaten, but out of the 64.1 million people who live in the UK, 13 million of them are struggling to afford to eat. Crazy, right?

To help cut down on the amount of food you waste in your own household you can:

  • Plan your meals
  • Only buy what you need
  • Make a compost
  • Use leftovers
  • Cook dinners with food that is nearing it’s use by date
  • Stock rotate your cupboards.

As for the rest of your rubbish, there’s not a lot that can’t be recycled these days, so even if it’s things that can’t be put in your household recycling bins there are millions of recycling centres all around the UK, which will recycle things like batteries, phones, clothes, shoes and plenty of other items.

Have we convinced you enough to sort through all your Christmas rubbish? Start today, on Boxing Day, by at least recycling all of your cardboard packaging and make it your mission to recycle more in 2016.

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