A load of rubbish

The first place to think about taking action is at home.  The rubbish we throw away affects the environment  and wildlife in several ways.

• Firstly because of the space it fills up - land must be sacrificed for landfill sites - wild habitats and the animals and plants that live there may be lost or damaged .
• Secondly because rubbish disposal results in some unpleasant and sometimes poisonous by-products that can cause environmental damage
• Thirdly because rubbish that escapes as litter can be real hazard to wildlife too. For example, plastic bags in the sea are thought to be responsible for killing turtles which eat them mistaking them for jelly fish. Turtles have got quite enough problems without this!

Here are few facts and figures to make you think....

Every year, we produce over 250 million tonnes of waste in the UK, of that, around 30 million tonnes is household rubbish.  The average rubbish bin contains:

• 33%  paper and cardboard
• 20% vegetable waste
• 6% cans
• 9% glass bottles
• 11% plastics
• 2% textiles
• 19% others

The unsorted rubbish we produce from homes, schools, factories, offices and hospitals is generally collected by the local council and is either buried in a large hole (landfilled) or burnt until all that remains is ashes (incinerated).

Most of the waste is landfilled - only 17% is recycled with a small amount incinerated. The Government hopes we will recycle 20% of our rubbish by the end of 2005.

This is what happens to household rubbish when it is taken away. 

The rubbish from our bins is taken to large holes in the ground called landfill sites, these holes in the ground are sometimes quarries and gravel pits, but may be made especially for rubbish. 

In the hole the waste is squashed using special machinery and then covered with layers of earth.  The problem is that the amount of space left in existing holes is running out and there are fewer and fewer local places available for new sites. We can make sites last longer by making less waste.

Modern landfill sites are carefully managed to prevent pollution.  The two main problems are:

• Leachate - a cocktail of chemicals is formed as rainfall and other water passes through the refuse tip.  It is called leachate and is unpleasant or even poisonous. Modern landfill sites have a sophisticated liner and drainage system to prevent this leachate escaping.
• Methane - this gas is formed as vegetable or other organic material decomposes.  If the gas gets trapped it can cause an explosion.  Vents are used to allow the gas to escape into the atmosphere.  Some tips are designed to gather the methane as the organic matter decays.  The landfill gas can then be burnt and used to provide heating or generate electricity. If it just escapes to the air, it contributes to global warming.

Unfortunately landfilled waste lies in the ground for many years.Whilst a little will decompose and decay, the airless conditions do not  help this and many materials, including plastics, stay more or less unchanged.

Incineration

Items of household waste that burn, like paper, cloth, rubber and plastic can be incinerated and used as fuel in 'energy from waste' power stations that provide heat and electricity for our homes, schools and industries. Very high temperatures are needed to make everything burn properly, and complex processes are used , and even then, many people are worried about the gases that are released. 

The real problem with burying or burning rubblish is that none of the materials are recovered or used again. As many raw materials are expensive to obtain or, like oil, will eventually run out, we think there is a better way to manage our waste and each of us can help is by adopting the four R's:

• Recycle
• Reduce
• Reuse  
• Repair

More information about all of these will be available by selecting the topic you are interested in from the top, left hand side of this page.

Recycling

Recycling things means using them again, making new items from old ones instead of throwing them away.  If you take empty bottles to the bottle bank, they are taken away and melted down, then made into new glass products.

Recycling materials can save energy and actual materials. It can also prevent fresh quarrying or mining and mean fewer greenhouse gases are produced.

• Make sure you know where to find banks for recycling bottles, paper, plastic, clothing and cans near you or at places you visit regularly. Use them!
• Avoid making special journeys to recycle unless you walk or cycle.
• When you are going to the recycling centre ask your neighbours if you can take their items too.
• Sort your waste as you make it.  Put glass, metal, paper and plastic into containers ready to take to the recycling centre - don't forget your own personal recycling centre (vegetable peelings etc) - your own compost heap!
• Find out if your local Watch, Scout or Guide group collects paper or cans.
• Take waste to the recycling points for your neighbours - it will help save petrol.
• Find out if there is a scrap metal dealer near you who will recycle large items.

What to recycle
Cans: Recycle aluminium and steel cans - drinks cans can be made into more drinks cans - wash and squash them before you put them in the can bank. This means fewer lorry trips to collect them and less pollution.
Glass: Bottles and jars (even the Romans used to recycle glass). Making old glass to make new glass uses less heat energy than making totally new glass.  So recycling glass saves energy - about one litre of oil for every four bottles you put in the bottle bank.
Paper: Newspapers and magazines, computer paper - the raw material for paper is wood.
Plastics: Some plastics can be recycled - the raw material for plastic is oil.
Clothing: Fabric can be recycled and made into fleece.
Kitchen and garden waste: Turn it into compost and give food scraps to birds

Reduce It - Ban the Bin, reduce the amount of waste you buy

Imagine if the bins in your school or home disappeared.  How could you cut down on the waste you produce?  Here are a few ideas:

• Avoid throw-away items like milk cartons - use glass bottles which can be re-used or recycled
• Say "NO" to fancy wrappers and more carrier bags - take a bag with you when you go shopping- this is important, 80% of household waste is packaging!
• Avoid toys that need batteries unless you use the rechargeable sort
• Buy large economy size packets and bottles - they use less packaging than lots of small ones

Reuse It - don't just throw it away

Plastics are mostly made from oil.  They are light to touch and resist decay.  This makes them ideal packaging materials.  But every year, more than 2.9 million tonnes of plastic are thrown away in the UK.  How can we reduce the amount of 'reusable items' we put in our bins?  Here are a couple of ideas to get you thinking...

• Don't get carrier bags unless you really have to, you'll already have lots of them at home - re-use them!
• Use less paper - write on both sides
• Give clothes, toys and books to a Charity Sop or Jumble Sale
• Use worn out clothes for rags - for the car, painting or cleaning shoes
• Buy sticky labels from your favourite Charity Shop so yu can use envelopes again
• Advertise old toys, washing machines and furniture in your local paper.  Even if you can't use them someone else probably can.

Repair It - Everything you can

Repair broken things if possible.

Be A Water Watch Dog
Households in England and Wales use 70 per cent more water than they did 30 years ago and on average each man, woman and child uses 152 litres of water a day!
Water companies provide water from reservoirs and underground sources. Companies can also take water from rivers, which means big problems for some river and wetland life.