Take Action
Written by Joe Peacock   
Friday, 01 April 2011 00:00
recycle3Taking action on waste is essential, since we are consuming natural resources at an unsustainable rate and contributing unnecessarily to climate change by not recycling all that we can.

See what your local council offers by going to www.recyclenow.com or go to the Birmingham Council website www.birmingham.gov.uk/recycling

  • Petition the city council to plan to halve the amount of household rubbish for disposal by 2020, through effective recycling and digestion of food waste. There will be an opportunity later this year to respond to a consultation on this.  

  • Birmingham Friends of the Earth has previously run a 'Moseley Swap Shop', where you can bring something you no longer want in exchange for something you do. If you like this idea, why not set up one of your own - contact us for tips on how to do it.

We also ran a crafting group and there are others running in the city, too. You could make new things out of unwanted items. E.g Plant pots made from Tetra-Paks.

  • Come along to one of our Monday action meetings at 7.30pm.

 

And on a personal level there are some simple steps that you can take to tackle these problems:

 

  • Reduce: Log on to Birmingham Freegle - or go to the national Freegle site - if you have any unwanted but useable goods. Someone out there might want it even if you don’t! You might also see useful things on there that you’d like, so you might save money. Alternatively charity shops always need good quality unwanted goods.
  • Reduce: Go along to a "Swap Shop" event to give away old things you don't want and pick up things for free that others have left. 
  • Reduce: Carry a turtle bag (www.turtlebags.co.uk) or bag for life so you can just say no to the usual bundle of supermarket plastic carrier bags.
  • Reduce: If you buy a supermarket product that you think is over-packaged, tell them so! About 16% of the purchase price of goods goes towards (often unnecessary) packaging. If we don’t complain they’ll never change.
  • Reduce: Buy recycled products. All recycled products need a strong customer base to ensure that they continue to be produced
  • Reuse: Where possible buy quality products that will last a long time and avoid unnecessary disposable goods.
  • Reuse: Go to a Crafting group and learn how to make new things out of old.
  • Reuse: try composting your kitchen and garden waste by getting a compost bin. More daring souls could try a wormery which is an outdoor container with special worms which chomp through raw vegetable kitchen waste. It’s remarkably efficient and fun for kids too.
  • Recycle: Take advantage of the existing Council recycling kerbside scheme if it visits your house. You can recycle garden waste, paper, glass, plastics and aluminium cans. If this service doesn’t visit your street, contact the council (T: 0121 303 1112) and demand to know when you will be getting a scheme in your area. Copy in your MP or councillor so they can get on the case too.
  • Recycle: Use the bring sites and household recycling centres to ensure nothing that could be recycled ends up in your dustbin
Last Updated on Wednesday, 27 June 2012 15:45