Cleaning up in the Community: National Recycle Week 2020

Thursday, September 17, 2020

It’s National Recycle Week and here at Leeds Credit Union we thought it would be the perfect time to talk about how we can all recycle better and help towards the clean up of our great city. So we’ve compiled a list of some top tips that can help you make a change!

Why should we recycle?

Before we run through our tips, it’s worth remembering that recycling has a number of benefits. By reusing materials instead of throwing them away it can:

• Help conserve our natural resources
• Protect the environment
• Reduce demand for the production of new materials
• Save on energy consumption
• Reduce the demand put on our landfills and waste disposal areas
• Make the world a cleaner and better place

Such benefits can be achieved if we all play our part, even if that’s just on a local level in our
city and county. So here’s what you can do...

Create a recycling system in your home

Recycling can be easy when you set up a good system to manage it. A solid system begins with having a place to put your recycling inside your home, this can be a box or a bin. This container should be kept beside your usual food rubbish bin to act as a reminder for everyone in your household to recycle.

Know your recycling day

Recycling is collected on different days depending on what part of the country you are in -
check the local council website for your bin collection day and then put it in your phone or on
a calendar. You should know it off by heart after a few weeks!

Manage and reduce your food waste 

There’s plenty of ways you can keep your food waste down and a good place to start is
whilst doing your shopping. Create a shopping list and stick to it to avoid buying things you
already have.

A few more tips are:

• Understanding food labels - be aware of when your food is going to expire.
• Cook the right amount of food - be aware of your portions, look up the correct
  portion sizes if you are unsure.
• Store food correctly - keep your food fresher for longer.
• Freeze your food - then you can eat any leftover food at a later date.
• Fit recycling into your day to day
• Get into the habit of recycling and knowing what and where things can be recycled. Show off your good habits to those around you, especially if you’ve got children.
• Little things like taking the recycling out before you go to work or on the school run is a great way to set a good example to your loved ones.

How to get involved in Recycle Week 2020

If you follow the hashtag #RecycleWeek on Twitter they share excellent content with tips,
competitions, how to recycle properly and more fun ways to approach recycling.
You can also find all the information about the event and some more useful tips on the
organiser WRAP’s website .