Less means more!
Finally, a campaign that asks us to do less!
‘Let’s Waste Less’ is the theme for this year’s National Recycle Week (Monday 22 to Sunday 28 June 2009) with the Recycle Now campaign encouraging us all to think about the many, easy ways we can waste less and make more of the resources we have.
Two-thirds of UK residents now consider themselves committed recyclers, with the country currently recycling 34 percent of its total household waste. Oxfordshire is head and shoulders above the average with a current recycling rate in excess of 43 percent, but there’s still more to be done.
From recycling more everyday items like glass and plastic bottles to reducing food waste, reusing carrier bags or trying out new things like home composting, there are many ways to cut back on the amount of waste we send to landfill and Recycle Week is about raising awareness of these activities.
In the past five years alone we’ve saved 30 million tonnes of CO2: equivalent to taking a third of our cars off UK roads for a year. Recycling really is making a difference. Five years ago Oxfordshire recycled almost 91,000 tonnes last year this soared to over 129,000 tonnes.
Paul Mocroft from Oxfordshire Waste Partnership (OWP) thinks we can all waste less with little effort. He says: “Recycle Week is a great opportunity to find out just how easy it is to reduce, reuse or recycle the resources we’d otherwise waste. The range of materials Oxfordshire councils are able to recycle is increasing all the time, so it’s never been more convenient to live in an eco-conscious way.”
“Everyone’s getting involved in Recycle Week, even local restaurateur and celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson has pledged the Recycle Now campaign to recycle all his glass” adds Paul “so we should all do our bit.”
During the week the recycling message will be taking to the streets with roadshows and events. Even taxis will be doing their bit too! Two Oxfordshire taxis have been given a makeover with a difference: they now tell people to recycle their electrical waste.
Chair of OWP, Cllr John Tanner says: “These brightly coloured taxis are a great reminder to everyone to recycle their electrical waste: you can’t miss them! We all know about recycling our newspapers and food cans, but can sometimes forget about some of the newer materials that can have a new life. There are lots of ways to waste less, help the environment and even save money in the process.”
Recycle week will also see South Oxfordshire residents furnished with a new state of the art waste recycling centre. A totally revamped Oakley Wood recycling centre opens to the public at 8am on Saturday 27 June.
John Pickard at Oxfordshire County Council has overseen the developments, he says: “This is our latest recycling centre to be renovated. The new facility will be easier to use and with residents’ help will push our recycling rates even higher.”
