This article comes in audio format. To listen, just click on the play icon below.

Back to the 3 R’s!

RE-USE
My parents and grandparents’ generation, who had lived through wars and times of shortage never threw anything away. My dad always had a box of bits that might be useful and invariably, eventually, they were. We have got out of the habit of doing that but the ”throw away” society that has developed must change. Every year 2.12 billion tons of waste is dumped in landfill. Small changes can have a big impact so let’s get creative and give waste a second life by re-using it or donating it to someone else.

Here are a few ideas.

• Use re-usable crockery for parties and borrow decorations.
• Use real nappies and save disposable ones for special occasions.
• Buy products in re-fillable containers.
• Buy re-chargeable items like batteries.
• Turn old towels into rags and dusters.
• Keep a damp flannel in a bag rather than use wet wipes.
• Jam jars can be vases, pen holders or paint pots.
• Swap clothes (Swishing event coming up in the new year) or donate them to charity shops.
• Pass on school uniforms to friends with younger children or to school that has a uniform bank.
• Re-use envelopes with a new label , scrap paper for notes and cardboard boxes for parcels.
• Advertise unwanted items on sites like “Swap and Sell”
• One use banners are not sustainable…get generic ones.

Barbara Kipling – Embsay with Eastby Environmental Action Group