Today was recycling day and it really shocked me how much we collect up as a household over 2 weeks. It also scares me that if we didn’t recycle these items, they would go directly to landfill.
And as I am sorting through the cardboard and empty milk cartons, I wondered how many of us are conscious of our carbon footprint? Are we doing this because we really want to make a difference, or has it become another weekly task that we do automatically?
And are we making a difference? Everything we do now impacts on our children’s futures but are we doing enough? Are we recycling too much? Are we recycling the right things?
Thankfully Harrogate Borough Council can help us with one of the questions; are we recycling the right things? They have produced a leaflet that confirms exactly what you should be putting out for recycling at the kerb and what you shouldn’t.
It is quite amazing how much you can recycle for example; did you know you can recycle empty aerosol cans in your black boxes? And in the blue bags you can recycle catalogues, telephone directories and envelopes (including window). But you can’t recycle dark plastic food trays, broken glass, pizza/fast food takeaway boxes or any cardboard with food on. The two crucial rules to follow are;
We have turned recycling into a bit of a game at our house, so my little boy helps us put the recycling in the bins and bags (but only the safe bits). He loves watching the lorry take it all away too and I like to think that the more we educate and involve him in the process now, the better he will understand it in the future.
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children” Native American
