A campaign by the local green party in the area of St Albans have been successful in winning recycling bins at their train station.

Spokesmen Simon Grover has said: “It’s an opportunity to recycle a huge amount everyday”.

However, I find this new system somewhat strange. Placing recycling bins in train stations may reduce the amount of newspapers being littered, mainly the free London papers, but I don’t think it will reduce the amount of paper being used in total, if anything it will increase it.

I’ve always liked the idea of reusing anything that can be reused, and a newspaper is one of those products that can be reused numerous amount of times. So why place a bin which is going to encourage commuters to dispose their paper rather then leaving it on the seat for someone else to read. Seeing as we all do pick up newspapers on tubes, trains, trams and busses I think it’s an unintelligent step to take.

That is my opinion and I would be very interested in hearing some of yours, some comment away and let me know of your thoughts.

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At the check out point in the supermarket today, I noticed plastic boxes used instead of plastic bags to carry the shopping in. At £1 a box, it’s a very good investment as they can be reused many times, and will most defiantly be a step forward in reducing the waste in landfills, many of which are plastic bags.

I personally have made a start and purchased two boxes, and I found to be much easier to carry then carrier bags.

It would be great if one by one we could change our old habits and notice the problems we are causing subconsciously.

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I’ve read an interesting article on the BBC news website about a new 12-month collection trial which involves thousands of householders in East Renfrewshire recycling their food waste.

This is really good news, as £800 million worth of food is thrown away each year just in the Scottish area, which according to the Scottish Environmental protection agency works out as almost £370 per home.

All the talk about authorities not doing enough has proved us wrong because they are finally doing something which actually seems to look like a good plan. There is nothing the householders will not be provided with as each house receives a seven-litre kitchen caddy and bags to go inside them. They even thought about vermin and foxes and a large seal-able container would also be provided to keep them out.

So really, there is no reason why these households who have been invited to take part shouldn’t recycle! It will make them realise how much extra food they buy which ends up in their bins and will also help the environment as they can reduce the amount of waste they send to the landfills from the current 65% to the expected level of 35% by 2020. That is a huge task that will only be achieved with the help of householders.

The authorities are hoping to spread this trial to the whole country, meanwhile we should start to do out bit by reducing the amount of unnecessary food we all purchase so we can reduce such big amounts of waste being taken to landfill sites…after all, there only so much space for rubbish.

Today’s episode of Loose Women on ITV1 starred guest Kim Wilde, an 80’s pop singer and current professional gardener. She made a very interesting point which got me thinking about other ways which we could REDUCE the need for recycling.

Growing our own produce would mean less packaging and hence less waste for recycling.

Growing your vegetables is very easy as you can use pots on your windowsill, balconies and gardens. There are many useful websites which advice you on how to grow produce such as herbs, peas and salad ingredient: http://www.ehow.com/how_2148816_grow-windowsill-herb-garden.html.

This approach of home produced goods would decrease household wastes and slowly help environmental issues such as global warming. It is cheaper, healthier and more exciting than buying your vegetables or herbs from Tescos.

So would you consider growing you own produce?

According to the Members of the European Parliament (MEP) who held a vote on 8 April, recycling targets should be increased and incinerators subjected to efficiency criteria when burning waste for energy ‘recovery’ purposes.

Their aim is to make sure by 2020, 50% of the EU’s household waste and 70% of construction waste is recycled. These targets should, according to MEPs, accompany member-state efforts to stabilise waste production by 2012.

The vote is part of the Parliments second reading on waste production and a controversial piece of legislation that is plagued by widely differing waste and recycling practices across the EU.

What has shocked me is the level of recycling in the UK compared to the neighbouring European countries. According to the Friend of the Earth (FOE), Germany, Austria and Switzerland recycle over 50% of their household wastes, whilst the UK only manages to recycle 19% of all household wastes.

So why is this? Are the British public lazy? Or have the British government not made enough effort in motivating households to recycle their waste?

Ok, so I’ve heard from various people that they recycle because it…

-”Makes me feel better…”
-”I feel that I’m helping the environment…”
-”It makes me feel that i’m a better  person…”

ok, so why do you recycle? if you do recycle?

Is it because you need something to make you feel better about yourself and your actions?

or do you genuinely have an interest in environmental issues?

comment away and let me know what you think.

=)

So how young is too young to recycle? Why can’t kids recycle their juice bottles from their packed lunches, or the paper they use to draw on?Being an older sister myself, I feel very responsible in making sure my younger sisters know the importance of why we should reuse products such as bottles, and I have to say, at the ages of 7 and 11 both my sisters know that paper doesn’t belong in the bin with the rubbish, but in the recycle box in the garden.  

So does it come down to the fact that it’s the parents’ responsibility to teach their kids about the importance of reusing goods? Or they are too young to be given so much information, which is “irrelevant to their current lives”? I thought every parent wishes the best for their child’s future…but from what I see at the moment the future doesn’t look to healthy for our kids to grow up in.

So whose fault is it?  
The producers, for producing over packaged products?
The schoolteachers, for not providing adequate lessons on environmental issues?
Or the parents for not taking the time out to inform their kids about their future and the world that they’ll live in?

In today’s world the importance of recycling is becoming greater of a concern both for the general public and also to the economy. Recycling has become a major issue as scientific research has been suggesting for years that the earth is being depleted too fast to sustain a healthy balance. The earth’s natural resources are being consumed at a rate that reinforces the idea that we are living for today and the future generations will be paying for the consequences.

However many people and just as importantly businesses are realizing the problem at hand and the importance of recycling. Recycling along with reducing consumption is our best means to counter the damage we have been doing to the earth for centuries. The importance of recycling is now held in such a high regard even famous people are taking up the plight. Al Gore is now on a mission to educate the world on the effects of global warming. He is also concerned about how we can reduce the causes of global warming. A major part reducing the warmingis how we can recycle much of what we use instead of turning it into unusable waste. Recycling is incredibly important as a means to reduce poisonous emissions into the atmosphere and also to spare our natural resources.

Today many companies and individuals are improving their recycling habits by coming up with ways to reduce what they use. They are also reusing much of the original materials sent out for consumer use.  The importance of recycling is not only beneficial for the earth but also for businesses as they secure better relations with the consumers over the matter of saving the environment. They will also spend less on production costs and the consumers will pay less for the goods which will encourage more purchasing as their dollar will have more value on recycled products. People want to support companies that have a positive influence in society and that can be respected for reasons of morality. When companies and the consumers can work together they can combine the importance of recycling and truly make a difference to the Earth’s health.