Next Generation Green -
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
The Three Rs
In the olden days, the only three Rs kids had to know about were Reading, ’Riting and ’Rithmetic. These are still very important, but now, with the health of our planet in danger, there are three more Rs to master: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
Reduce:
Only buy what you need. This policy that can be applied to everything we buy but an easy place to start is with food. Is your breadbin always filled with mouldy loaves by the end of the week? Do your parents regularly have to empty the fridge of things that are past their use-by date? If yes, this might mean your family is overbuying. One way to combat this is to make a chart of what you and your family eat at home during the average week, and stick it to the fridge. This way, when it comes to writing weekly the shopping list you’ll know exactly how much you need to see you through until next time.
Another great way to combat food waste is freezing. More things can be frozen than you’d imagine. Milk, bread and meat are popular favourites for home freezing but did you know that potatoes, beans, stews, fruit and fresh herbs can also be frozen (the latter will lose their texture and become a bit soggy when defrosted but they will still be just as flavoursome = perfect for soups and sauces) Top tip: if your bananas are on the turn (the telltale brown spots are a give away) why not peel them, cut them up into small cubes and freeze them? When you take them out after a few hours (or even a few weeks!) they’ll be delicious – tasting like little chunks of banana ice-cream, but far better for you.
5 tips for home freezing
• Make sure the food is in perfect condition before freezing.
• Divide food into small portions. This way it’ll freeze faster and be better quality when you defrost it.
• Make sure that food is tightly wrapped or sealed and that no air or water can get in or out.
• Do not freeze too many unfrozen items at once.
• Defrost items in the refrigerator, on a plate or on the draining board (this is particularly useful for bottles of milk or cartons of juice)
Reuse:
Use things as many times as you can. We’re not saying you have to keep wearing your favourite jumper until it looks like it’s been attacked by a giant moth, but there are plenty of things you can use over and over again before you have to replace them. One of the most important things to reuse is your bags. Did you know that every household in the UK still gets through an average of 400 plastic carrier bags each year? Lots of people now own canvas ‘bags for life’ but this often doesn’t stop us picking up more plastic bags when we go to the shops. Here are three top tips from the government about reusing bags: Any bag will do Using any sort of bag over and over again will use less CO2 than using a bag once and throwing it away. Many shops offer a bag-for-life scheme, where you simply return a worn out bag and they replace it with a brand new one, for nothing. Why not ask? It all helps. Bagsy the Bags Going to the supermarket with your parents is boring at the best of times. Why not make it more fun by appointing yourself shopping bag monitor? Your job will be gather up all the plastic bags from home and give them to mum and dad at the checkout, making sure they don’t bring any new, unnecessary bags home. Keep one with you Keep a bag tucked away in a pocket, and one or two in your satchel and sportsbag, and you’ll never be short. Many companies now offer bags that fold up neatly to pop into a pocket, bag, or even onto a keyring. Reusing other items: Just because something has been manufactured to be one thing, it doesn’t mean you can’t give it a new lease of life as something else. For example, the cardboard cylinders in the middle of toilet rolls are perfect for making your own desk-tidy. But what about plastic bottles? Watch the video below for some great ideas about what to do with your old fizzy drink or water bottles.
Recycle:
Here are the five major reasons why recycling is so important (courtesy of the Recycle Now campaign)
Recycling conserves resources
When we recycle, used materials are converted into new products, reducing the need to consume natural resources. If used materials are not recycled, new products are made by extracting fresh, raw material from the Earth, through mining and forestry. Recycling helps conserve important raw materials and protects natural habitats for the future.
Recycling saves energy
Using recycled materials in the manufacturing process uses considerably less energy than that required for producing new products from raw materials – even when comparing all associated costs including transport etc. Plus there are extra energy savings because more energy is required to extract, refine, transport and process raw materials ready for industry compared with providing industry-ready materials.
Recycling helps protect the environment
Recycling reduces the need for extracting (mining, quarrying and logging), refining and processing raw materials all of which create substantial air and water pollution. As recycling saves energy it also reduces greenhouse gas emissions, which helps to tackle climate change. Current UK recycling is estimated to save more than 18 million tonnes of C02 a year – the equivalent to taking 5 million cars off the road.
Recycling reduces landfill
When we recycle, recyclable materials are reprocessed into new products, and as a result the amount of rubbish sent to landfill sites reduces. There are over 1,500 landfill sites in the UK, and in 2001, these sites produced a quarter of the UK’s emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
Recycling facts
Did you know…
-- a single 1 litre milk carton can be turned into five sheets of high quality office paper?
--recycling one glass bottle saves enough electricity to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours?
--most recycled aluminium cans are made into….you guessed it…more aluminium cans! Nowadays, recycling your used paper, cardboard, glass and plastic is easier than ever before. But different councils have different rules about what they will recycle.
To find out exactly what can be recycled in your area, simply visit http://www.recyclenow.com, armed with your postcode. An insight into the workings of the Valpak recycling plant near Preston: