It’s recycling week in the UK! Who knew? At Recycle More Southfields, this is a great week to think about how we can do even more to reduce waste and protect the environment.
Say no to plastic
We love cutting down on single-use plastic by recycling. But we won’t solve the single-use plastics problem by recycling alone: there is still too much produced and not enough that is properly recycled.
More drastic action is needed. So, please join us in signing a petition for the Global Plastics Treaty to cut the use of single-use plastics produced in the first place. Find out more from Everyday Plastics and sign their petition.
Choose recycled products
So here are our favourite products made from all things recycled. Most are tried-and-tested by local recyclers and simply gorgeous!
1. From pre-loved saris to Christmas wreaths
Pri Pri is an international circular economy company, which turns pre-loved saris sourced from the owner’s personal contacts and markets in Mumbai, into new items such as kids clothing, homeware items, and (our favourite!) Christmas wreaths! All designed and stitched in the UK!
The wreaths are made from all the scraps of material left over after making other upcycled items.
(Image above courtesy of PriPri).
2. From abandoned fishing nets to stylish sunglasses and more
Waterhaul is a UK based company that turns lost fishing gear, collected from the beaches of Cornwall into chic sunglasses and (just as exciting to many of us…) litter picking equipment.
Fishing nets are especially dangerous to the wildlife due to their abundance, strength and longevity.
Recycle More Soutfields has purchased 4 litter pickers and 2 litter picking hoops from Waterhaul and we lend them to local residents to encourage litter picking. They look good and make us feel better about all that repurposed plastic.
If you want to borrow these from us (free of charge!) – please get in touch by emailing: recyclemoresouthfields (at) gmail.com
3. From books and office paper to loo rolls
Instead of flushing loo paper made from virgin cellulose down the toilet, you can get toilet paper that reuses post-consumer wastepaper, such as textbooks, workbooks and office paper. Look out for the “recycled” paper made from the post-industrial paper (such as the off cuts of the paper industry) – that can be used for things like office paper or books.
The most sustainable brands for recycled toilet rolls are: Honest Suppliers, Naked Sprout and Who Gives a Crap.
More information on eco-friendly toilet rolls, including a discussion about bamboo vs recycled, listen to BBC Radio 4 Sliced Bread Programme. (Image above courtesy of Honest Suppliers).
4. Recycled stationery
We love to have less plastic waste in the first place and our stationery cupboard is another place to work on.
Always choose recycled paper for your printing needs – plenty of it is available online and in shops. You can substitute your plastic sticky tape with a paper one. Even Sellotape, a huge British brand that became synonymous with sticky tape now produces a paper alternative. But if you want to go a step further – get paper sticky tape, made from recycled paper! That’s doubly sustainable and available from a small, but passionate UK online retailer called Anything But Plastic.
We’ve even found pens made from recycled plastic bottles – see Make a Mark Recycled pens. We haven’t used them ourselves yet, but let us know if you’ve tried them.
5. From plastic junk to stylish soap dishes
Müll Club (of Dragon Den fame) collects plastic waste from its local community and makes beautiful recycled plastic items, such as gorgeous soap dishes. We are a little bit in love with them…. As much as we like to avoid plastics, bamboo/wooden soap dishes get covered with mould, while these remain clean for a very long time!
(Image above - a screengrab from the Mull Club website)
We’d love to hear about your recycling favourites.
