Using Recycled Products

Over the past 30/40 years our society has become quite wasteful, with a throwaway type of attitude, meaning everything that gets put in the bin increases the mass of landfill waste. However, in recent years the level of recycling carried out in the UK has gradually increased, with around 40% of households now recycling our own waste. There are many streams of waste, ranging from the fortnightly collections of wheelie bins full of cardboard & plastic bottles to glass bottle banks to composting.

But how does recycling help? By collecting all these materials, it means there is less waste going to landfill and items are being reused as opposed to using up valuable new resources. Virgin plastic is generated from oil which is a finite resource and will not last forever, so by collecting plastic bottles this provides a stream of materials that would otherwise slowly decompose over many years in the ground. The other aspect of using recycled products means lower energy consumption as it is generally more efficient to reuse items than create them from new. This in turn reduces the usage of fossil fuels and emissions of carbon dioxide, helping combat climate change effects.

So by purchasing recycled products we can all “close the loop” on the recycling of products, encouraging an eco lifestyle. The range and quality of recycled products has increased dramatically, below are some examples with full details:

• Recycled Glasses – these are made from used wine & beer bottles and are converted into tumblers & goblets with minimal energy usage. They are enhanced with various designs or are made from world wide renowned beers like Grolsch & Carlsberg, making a great talking point!

• Recycled Gifts – a range of clocks, thermometers, coasters & placemats manufactured from a slate like material which is created from vending machine coffee cups collected through the Save-a-Cup scheme operating in UK offices.

• Recycled Cardboard Playhouses – every wondered why your recycled cardboard goes? Here is a range of play houses for children created from recycled cardboard, creating a wide range of designs all of which can be decorated as well.

• Recycled Puppet Craft Kits – a cute range of puppet craft kits made from recycled card, suitable for children from 36 month’s which they will enjoy creating and then playing with.

Recycling of products is worthwhile but in order to really reap the benefits we have to purchase recycled products in order to close the loop.