By Hollie Muir
National Recycling Week, running from the 24th to the 30th of September, is a week to up your game on recycling.
National Recycling Week, running from the 24th to the 30th of September, is a week to up your game on recycling. The theme for this year is “Recycling, We do. Because it matters”, which aims to show awareness on how real this problem is, encourage people and to motivate people to care about plastic in a way we never have before.
Most of us have been aware of the tragic news stories about plastic pollution all over the world. Every day we hear about the effect of plastic usage on nature - how animals are being killed from eating plastic or how we may be eating plastic ourselves. We have realised over the past few months just how important recycling is for our environment. We now understand that if things don’t change, then we will never be able to free ourselves of this plastic bubble we have been living in for so many years. As a result, many people have been trying to make a change in the world. Large companies have tried alternative solutions to make their products more environmentally friendly, such as McDonalds and their decision to replace plastic straws with recyclable paper straws. It is essential that everyone recognises the need to join this group of people who can make a difference. Hopefully, the whole world work together in harmony to achieve the goal of saving the planet.
The aim of this week is to encourage people to recycle more by demonstrating the benefits of recycling items around the home. By doing simple recycling tasks, many of us will feel the mental benefits of helping the environment, which are especially influenced by media portrayal of recycling. This takes only a short amount of time:
Step one - try and find out what materials can be recycled, to prevent putting unwanted rubbish in recycling bins. You can do this by checking the packaging to see if the item can be recycled.
Step two - place the item in your recycling bin. Simple!
By following this quick and easy two-step process, not only will you gain a better understanding of what recyclable materials are, but you will recycle more also!
Another simple tip is to consider the phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle”, which we have all definitely heard before. These are all ranked in order of importance. So, before we recycle we should consider reducing the amount of waste we consume. What products can be bought with less packaging? First of all, if something is broken, fix it, don’t replace it! If it can’t be fixed, try and buy non-packaged goods which will automatically reduce waste. There is also a push for products made of recycled material, like pencils made from recycled plastic etc. This way we are reusing plastic again instead of it being thrown away to end up in the sea, where it negatively affects wildlife. And finally, encourage people who enjoy making and creating to make art out of old plastic. This sounds ridiculous, but having art around the home or everyday items made from plastic can both use up old plastic and make a great addition to your home, especially if you are using recycled paper, or biodegradable paints and pencils!
So, having considered all of the simplest things to do in and around the home, try and do something good for our planet by recycling this week - because sometimes the simplest things can make the biggest difference.
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