Our top tips for recycling at home

Whilst in the midst of Lockdown 3, and inevitably all spending lots of time at home, we’ve pulled together our top tips for looking after our planet by recycling around the house – from everyday packaging and containers to those trickier New Year clear out items. 

Retrospective figures from 2018 suggest the recycling rate for UK household waste is around 45%. Whilst we’re getting ever-familiar with recycling more, there are small steps we can all take to improve how much we recycle. The potential impact is huge; according to Recycle Now, recycling one drink can could save enough energy to power a TV for four hours. https://www.youtube.com/embed/sLktjtlXCNo?feature=emb_title&wmode=opaque&enablejsapi=1

Kitchen

Up to nine in ten adults in the UK are well versed in recycling from the kitchen – from plastic and glass bottles to cardboard and paper packaging. But with so much waste coming from the kitchen, it’s a great idea to break down boxes and packaging so more can fit into your recycling bin. 

Bathroom

Unlike kitchen recycling, a recent article by Huffington Post suggests that only four in ten adults in the UK recycle bathroom products. Many bathroom products, from shampoo to cleaning bottles and toothpaste boxes, can be recycled and adding a bathroom recycling container is an easy win.

The top 10 things everyone can recycle from their bathroom: 

Shampoo bottles

Conditioner bottles

Shower gel and bubble bath bottles

Cardboard boxes e.g. toothpaste or soap boxes

Toilet roll tubes

Bathroom cleaner and bleach bottles (even the spray dispenser can be recycled)

Deodorants

Shaving foam

Hand soap bottles (but remember you can’t recycle the pump dispenser)

Moisturiser bottles
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mcm01kEqjRw?wmode=opaque&enablejsapi=1

Around the home

From magazines to cardboard tissue boxes, there are lots of easy recycling wins around the house. But when it comes to a good clear out, it can be tricky to know what can (and can’t) be recycled.

From laptops to lamps and keys to kitchen foil, Recycle Now has a fantastic resource called What To Do With… which contains a full list of recycling instructions for a myriad of household items. 

Of course, it’s better to reduce waste in the first place. Stopping unwanted mail and checking you’ve unsubscribed from mailouts, remembering your reusable shopping bags (and face masks!) and making conscious decisions about buying reduced packaging options in supermarkets are some easy first steps to take. 

Here at South Downs Water, our packaging, wider supply chain and bottles are all optimised to be as sustainable as possible. This means all of our packaging – from pallets through to bottle caps – are fully recyclable, and our rPET plastic range is made from 100% recycled plastic, too. 

Find out more about our sustainability initiatives and the work we are doing to look after our planet.