11-14 years
Reduce
Reducing our waste means not making it, by deciding not to use or buy things. We make decisions every day which create waste, so we can have a big difference by considering the effects those decisions can have
Why is throwing things away a problem?
Here are a few suggestions to help you reduce your rubbish:
· Have a waste free lunch by not having crisps or using cling film that have to be thrown away. Using a container that you can use again to look after your sandwiches and having fruit or vegetables, so the peelings and cores can be composted after you have eaten them. This will mean you do not need to throw anything away when you have finished..
· Use both sides of a piece of paper, so you use one sheet instead of two
- Avoid picking up plastic bags at the shops, take a reusable bag instead
- Encourage the person at home who does the shopping to try not buy products with lots of plastic packaging.
Reuse
This is where we use something again, so we do not need to buy or use another item for the same purpose.
Here are a few examples, how many do you do already?
- Taking unwanted clothes and toys to a charity shop, so someone else can use them and help raise money for charity
· Using a plastic bottle for taking water, squash or juice to school, after school clubs or on trips.
Recycle
The items you place in your recycling box or bin at home are taken away and turned into something new. For example a plastic bottle could be turned into a fleece, a ruler or even back into a plastic bottle. A can could be made into a fridge, a bike or even an aeroplane!
You can find out what you can recycle at home here
Recycling still has a very positive impact on the environment, as the items you recycle are not ending up in landfill. However those items need to be transported and put through a process to be made into something new, which require energy and in some cases the use of fossil fuels. So by trying to reduce and reuse your waste at home (so they are using little or no energy of fossil fuels,) you can have an even bigger impact on the environment!
Composting
Is a great way to recycle your unwanted fruit and vegetable peelings, grass cuttings and a wide range of other orgainc materials, which all turn into a soil improver you can use in your garden.
You can put a whole range of things into your compost bin such as:
· Fruit and vegetable peelings, skins are cores
· Grass and plant cuttings
· Tea bags
· Egg shells
· Shredded paper
- to name but a few!
However you cannot put cooked food, meat or dairy products such as milk and cheese in a compost bin.
Want to compost at home? Then take a look at the national home composting campaign