Look, we all want to play our part in helping this planet exist for as long as possible. The things we do today will have an impact on the people of tomorrow – you want the next generation to enjoy a planet that’s not roasting hot or constantly flooded!
As a result, you constantly seek out big changes in your lifestyle to become more eco-friendly, but it’s waaaay simpler than that. Focus on smaller-scale things, like recycling and reducing household waste, and you’ll work towards a brighter future. You probably already try to recycle common things in your home, though this list will help you by revealing a few things you didn’t know you could recycle.
Check them out, create less waste, and live a more eco-friendly lifestyle.
Old Electronics
Like a lot of people, you look at old electronics and think there’s no way they can be recycled. An old PC or monitor feels like it has to be thrown away when broken, purely because of the circuitry and various materials that make it up.
On the contrary, you can recycle loads of old and broken electronics at your local recycling center. There are also online services that will come and pick up old tech – in both cases, specialists will take the electronics apart to find any parts that can be reused before recycling as much of the additional materials as possible
Kids’ Outdoor Play Sets
If you’ve got kids, then you may have loads of old outdoor play sets that never get used anymore. We’re talking about the following:
- Slides
- Swings
- Miniature play houses
- Small jungle gyms
These sets leave your garden looking like a graveyard, and you’re not entirely sure what to do with them. You think the only options are to donate them or throw them in a skip – but you can recycle these sets with ease!
Why? Because most of them are made using hard plastics or metal. The metal play sets are extremely recyclable; simply take them to your local scrap yard, and the metal recycling team will take things off your hands. Plastic sets might be slightly harder to recycle as it depends on the specific plastics they’re made out of. Still, you can always take it to a recycling center and see if you can at least recycle parts of the set.
Batteries
How many batteries do you throw out every year? In fairness, it’s probably a lot less now than it used to be – a lot of electronics are rechargeable these days, so that helps. Regardless, whenever you end up with a dead battery, you throw it in the trash.
Why? Because it seems like the simplest and safest thing to do. You know there aren’t any kerbside battery recycling collections, so you assume these items can’t be recycled. That’s false! Again, a quick trip to your recycling center will show you some special areas to dispose of batteries. You might see some battery recycling bins at your local grocery stores, too.
Beauty Products
Let’s be honest for a second, you never recycle your old beauty products, do you? It’s okay to admit this (hardly any of us do it), and that’s because almost nobody knows that these produces are recyclable.
For context, you can recycle beauty products like:
- Combs
- Lipstick containers
- Old makeup palettes
- Mascara tubes
- Makeup brushes
It sounds crazy, but lots of beauty brands are starting to realize the waste their products create. This has pushed them to start implementing recycling or “take back” schemes that let you send old products back to them. They’ll either recycle the products themselves or find ways to reuse them. Either way, you’re no longer throwing stuff away when it could be put to better use.
Sephora is one of the biggest beauty recyclers at the moment – pop into one of their stores, and you’ll find places to put old beauty and skincare products. The great thing is, you can recycle any products from any brands; you don’t need to have bought them from Sephora.
Plastic Bags
For years, we’ve been warned about the devilish plastic bags and their negative impact on our environment. It’s why you’re always encouraged to purchase tote bags or other reusable bags for life. The key problem is that plastic bags are made from a specific type of plastic that’s quite hard to recycle – or, it was hard to recycle in the past.
Nowadays, you can finally recycle your plastic grocery bags or chip packets in a few special ways. If you’re extremely lucky, then your local kerbside recycling collections will now include plastic bags as a separate recycling service. If not, then you should visit grocery stores because they usually have a plastic bag recycling scheme going on. While reusable bags are still the most eco-friendly option, it’s nice to know you can recycle old plastic ones instead of chucking them in with your household rubbish.
Lightbulbs
Like electronics, modern lightbulbs can be recycled with relative ease at any decent recycling center. You can’t recycle the old incandescent bulbs, but LED ones are designed to be taken apart and recycled or reused.
Pay attention when buying bulbs so you pick ones that have a recycling logo on them – this means you won’t throw away loads of bulbs in the future!
Some Cooking Oils
Did you know that some cooking oils can be strained, solidified, and then recycled at various recycling points? It sounds so absurd, but these oils are used to create biofuels, which are sustainable alternatives to things like petrol or diesel. This is one of the most exciting developments in the sustainable energy drive, so it’s great if you can contribute to this.
To be fair, you can recycle most of the common cooking oils, such as:
- Olive oil
- Vegetable oil
- Sunflower oil
The key is to cool the oil after cooking and then strain it through a tight sieve to remove any food particles. Pop it in a container and look for your nearest oil recycling facility.
CDs, DVDs, Etc.
You’re in the middle of a monumental home organization task, and you’ve stumbled upon boxes of CDs, DVDs, and other similar items. These used to provide you with hours of entertainment, yet now they collect dust and relics of the past. It’s time to get rid of at least some of them, but did you know you could recycle CDs and stuff like that?
Don’t throw them away and create unnecessary waste; take them to your recycling center, and you’re sure to find a section explicitly for CDs and other discs.
Aluminum Foil
You’re aware that metal can be recycled at home, but what about aluminum foil? It’s one of those things you scrunch up and throw in the bin because it feels like it can’t be recycled with other metal items.
That’s not the case! You can recycle aluminum foil on one condition: it’s clean and free from food residue. All you need to do is rinse it off with some hot water, then pop it in your recycling bin with tin cans and other metal items/objects.
Mattresses
Of all the things on this list, mattresses are the item you might already recycle. Some people know this, while others don’t. You will sometimes get your mattress collected by the council or take it to the dump to throw it away, but it can always be recycled.
Even an old and dingy mattress has recycling potential – people will take it apart and recycle the metal springs, etc. So, next time you’re moving house or getting a new bed, don’t throw the old mattresses in a skip. Arrange to have them collected by a specialist mattress recycling company, or pop them in your car and visit the recycling center yourself.
Old Keys
Think about all the old keys you’ve got lying around the house, hiding in drawers or on window sills. Some of the keys have been there since you moved in – and you’re never truly sure what they’re used for anyway. Keys are items you don’t think much about and will happily throw away when they’re no longer useful.
However, you should take a moment to think about what keys are made out of: metal!
This means they’re super easy to recycle and you’ve got no excuse for throwing them away. Just pop them in with the rest of your metal recycling – or go to the recycling center if you want to be sure the keys end up being thrown away – and you’ve immediately created less household waste.
That final sentence is the key thing to take away from this blog post: recycling helps you cut down on household waste, which also reduces carbon emissions and contributes to a healthier planet. It’s an easy thing for all of us to do as we look to live more eco-friendly lives. There’s no doubt you’re throwing away many of the items on this list and adding to landfill sites, so now’s the perfect time to change!