Recycling Archives

06/09/201718/05/2023

Charities, Challenges & Recycling Champions – A summer update

It’s been a really busy summer for us here Jump (Local Green Points), with plenty of highlights to share with you – including the launch of our Food Waste challenge, door to door campaigns, charity cheque presentations, and new partners we’re excited to start working with.Here’s a quick summary of what we’ve been up to over the past few months…

The Food Waste Challenge is live!

Our Food Waste Challenge is well and truly launched! The London Borough of Havering and the Borough of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk are the first of our Local Green Points schemes to launch the innovative online platform, which asks residents to make pledges based on the five food waste ‘themes’ identified by WRAP and offers tools and guidance to help them cut down their food waste. The Food Waste Challenge will also be launching in the London Boroughs of Camden and Waltham Forest later this year, where we look forward to seeing more residents saving money by cutting down their household food waste. Keep an eye on our press page for all the updates.

Local charities feel the benefits

This summer we’ve been busy awarding donations to charities and community projects around the UK on behalf of members of our Jump (Local Green Points) schemes. As a reward for cutting down waste and increasing recycling, members can choose their favourite community project to receive donations on their behalf. Since May, we’ve awarded over £12,000 to charities in Hammersmith & Fulham, Waltham Forest, Warwickshire, West Norfolk and Hackney. For more details, visit our press page.

Knock knock…

Following a successful first year of West Norfolk Recycling Rewards, The Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk commissioned us to canvass 10,000 households across the Borough. Our Recycling Advisors spoke to residents about their recycling services and helped them sign up to the rewards scheme. We’ve also been busy working with Kingston Council to sign up residents to Kingston Recycling Rewards, as well as with Westminster City Council on a project to raise awareness about recycling and reduce contamination rates in the local area – and we’ve already recycling rates increase in the areas where doors were knocked. For more information about our door to door campaigns, have a look at our blog on how to run a successful door to door campaign.

The hunt is on for Warwickshire Recycling Champion of the Year

We’re working with Warwickshire Waste Partnership to launch an exciting new competition to Warwickshire residents: the Warwickshire Recycling Champion of the Year. With online heats and a live final at Market Hall Museum in Warwick, the competition is not to be missed! There are some exciting prizes up for grabs, including a two night staycation for two in the luxury Lady Craven Suite at the Coombe Abbey hotel, provided by Shakespeare’s England. To be in with a chance of winning, you’ll need to sign up to the ‘Slim Your Bin’ campaign at: www.warwickshire.slim-your-bin.com. It’s free to enter and open to all Warwickshire residents.

Coming soon…Epping Forest Recycling Rewards!

We’re thrilled to announce that this autumn we will be launching Epping Forest Recycling Rewards – our latest Jump scheme. We’ll be bringing you more details of the scheme in the next few months, so keep an eye out for the launch on our press page. It’s an exciting time ahead for us, with plenty to keep us on our toes! We look forward to keeping you posted 🙂

11/08/201718/05/2023

How to improve community recycling rates. Bradley’s guide to a successful door to door campaign.

Door to door campaigns are an excellent way to launch a recycling campaign and deliver key information to hard to reach target audiences. Here at Jump (Local Green Points) we are no stranger to door to door engagement campaigns, having canvassed over 600,000 households to date for our council clients. So what makes a door to door recycling campaign successful?

Our Community and Outreach Manager, Bradley, shares some of his top tips for running and managing a successful campaign:

1) Determine your area

A successful door to door campaign has a well-established target area and a well-planned strategy for reaching all households. Route-planning beforehand is therefore essential and makes the job a lot easier for your staff. Preventing your staff from walking around in circles and having to revisit the same areas again and again will be less time-consuming and more cost-effective for you!

2. Develop a clear succinct script

The way your key campaign messages are communicated at the door has a big impact on how engaging your door to door campaign is. In order for a door to door campaign to be engaging, staff need to be able to deliver and stick to a clear and concise script, so residents leave the conversation having taken in and understood the message. So it’s worth really taking the time to develop a concise script with a clear message and making sure it is well-rehearsed by your door-to-door staff.

3. Use professional, well-trained staff

Your staff are the first point of contact for your campaign, so it is vital to ensure that they are well-trained and maintain a professional appearance and demeanour at all times. Thorough training will save you any future headaches, as by ensuring that your staff are knowledgeable about all waste and recycling practises in the Borough they will be able to deliver succinct and accurate information on the doorstep and answer any residents’ questions. Putting in the extra hours training your staff will really pay off when you have high levels of engagement in your project.

4. Feedback your data

Key to an effective door to door campaign is regular progress reporting and feedback to clients. Here at Local Green Points we make sure to always maintain open communication channels with our council clients and feedback regular progress reports. With our recent door to door campaign for Westminster City Council, we were able to feedback excellent results, including a 2.39% drop in residual waste reported when comparing pre-door-to-door intervention and post-door-to-door intervention. From our data collected on the doorstep, we were also able to report that 96% of residents agreed that the doorstep conversations encouraged them to continue or start recycling.

About Local Green points:

Local Green Points are specialist providers of Recycling rewards schemes. We’re experts at engaging with communities to encourage residents to reduce, reuse and recycle. Our approach is innovative – combining web and app platforms, communications campaigns and face to face engagement to connect with our target audience. We regularly use door to door campaigns to roll out our recycling reward schemes across target areas, including hard to reach purpose-built flats, and they play a key role in motivating residents to recycle more and waste less.

What could a door to door campaign do for your residents? Get in touch with us on [email protected] to find out more.

04/08/201718/05/2023

Are we on the way to Armageddon? What Earth Overshoot Day means for mankind.

Last week you might have spotted a few articles on Earth Overshoot Day, or noticed the hashtag #movethedate trending on Twitter. So what’s it all about? Well it’s not quite Armageddon, but brace yourself for some hard-hitting statistics

Earth Overshoot Day is the day that our global population consumes more ecological resources and services than nature can regenerate. This year it fell on August 2^nd, a whole week earlier than last year.

Before the 1970s, the Earth was able to renew all of its resources spent by humans every year. But this year we have already used up our allowance for water, soil, clean air and other resources on Earth for the whole of 2017. In just 7 months, we have emitted more carbon than forests and oceans can absorb in a year, caught more fish than can be naturally replenished, felled more trees than forests can sequester and consumed more water than the Earth was able to produce in a year. We are consuming our nature at a rate 1.7 times faster than natural ecosystems can regenerate. Ouch.

What can we do about it?

There’s no need to run for the hills just yet. As usual, we’re here to remind you that there are plenty of innovative ways to reduce your impact on the planet.

Step 1: Understand your impact

You can calculate your own personal Earth Overshoot day by using the Global Footprint Network’s handy Ecological Footprint Calculator which will tell you exactly how your lifestyle impacts the planet. We find with all our Jump programmes that by giving employees a thorough understanding of the ecological impact of their daily lifestyle choices, such as travel and energy use, we achieve lasting sustainable behaviour change. At Swansea University, for example, we have seen nearly 60,000 sustainable miles travelled to work, since their sustainability and wellbeing programme began.

Step 2: Plan and implement your lifestyle changes

Once you’ve calculated your ecological footprint, you can plan some simple, everyday actions you can take to reduce your impact. Our RBS Jump programme includes easy-to-do, energy-saving actions, such as making a last one out the office checklist, which contributed to an average reduction in energy use of 5% across all locations involved in the programme.

Step 3: Make some noise

Once you’ve got some easy and effective daily actions you can take, make sure to make some noise about it and inspire people to do the same. We use our Jump Twitter and Facebook to keep members of our scheme engaged, by feeding back to them exactly how their actions are making a difference. So don’t be shy, start sharing! Connect with us on social media and we’ll be sure to share your story.

Step 4: Infiltrate your workplace

Get your office involved and let your colleagues know you care! Our Jump workplace sustainability and wellbeing engagement programme is not only good for the planet, it’s good for your office: there is now increasing evidence that a desire for sustainability drives employee engagement and satisfaction, compared to only a 2% overlap with performance pay and job satisfaction. 100% of participants in our JUMP pilot at Bournemouth University said they would take part in Jump again and 49% believed they had improved their sustainable behaviours at work. So what are you waiting for?

For more information about our Jump sustainability and wellbeing programmes or to request a case study, head to our website.B

28/07/201718/05/2023

The community reuse revolution – A look at the community organisations helping us save money and prevent waste.

A new house mate joined our flat last month, and among the belongings he brought with him was a Phillips sound system from the 70s. It had been his grandad’s, his dad’s and now it belongs to him – and it still works perfectly.

It got me thinking about the saying, ‘they don’t make ‘em like they used to!’ and maybe there’s some truth in that. Nowadays we only keep a mobile phone for 2 years until we discard it for an upgrade, we give up easily when a device runs slow or gets damaged and the average person buys 3 new gadgets every year.Is it really that surprising that electronic items are becoming the fastest growing waste stream in the UK? Over 1 million tonnes of our gadgets get binned every year. The problem with wasting electronic items is that they contain valuable metals as well as plastics and other materials. These can be recovered through the recycling process but only about 30% of our unwanted electricals get recycled. What’s even more important than recycling your unwanted electronics is reusing them, whether that means repairing a broken item to give it a new lease of life or sharing a working item you no longer need with others. A number of projects in London alone have inspired us to join our community in the reuse revolution. Keep reading to hear about some of our favourites!

The Restart Project

The Restart Project is a London Based charity working to prevent electronic waste by hosting events up and down the UK where they help people restart their gadgets. So far they’ve helped prevent 5284kg of electronic waste. By working with communities, schools and companies to provide hands-on learning events, the Restart Project aims to do more than just fix your broken electronics for you – their aim is to change our relationship with electronics for good, by challenging our throw-away economy and valuing our electronics longer. The ‘Restart Code’ includes some simple steps we can all take to help fix our relationship with electronics. For example – ‘when we have a problem we will not panic, we’ll check the warranty, get help and do what we can to repair our electronic device. When we solve our problem, we will share that knowledge!’ Head to their website to join 3520 people already signed up to live this way. Want to get involved? Check out one of the free ‘Restart Parties’ where you’ll be joined by skilled volunteers who can help you learn to fix your slow or broken devices.

The Library of Things

Name two things a lot of Londoners wish they had more of… …space and money! A lot of people without the money to buy expensive tools or the space to store them could benefit from a local place where they can borrow items for a low price. That’s exactly what a Library of Things is for – it’s a place where you can borrow and share all sorts of things, like tools, kitchenware, gardening equipment and camping kit. And we think it’s a fantastic alternative to wasting money and valuable resources on brand new items that people in your community already own. The Library of Things does even more than it says on the tin, because they run 1-to-1 sessions and workshops to teach you how to use the tools you borrow and promote community engagement by hosting regular open nights. The one we know and love is located in West Norwood, South London, so check it out if you’re ever around. They promise to keep borrowing prices low, make you feel welcome and share tips on how to use things. In return, make sure you love and care for the items you’ve borrowed and bring them back on time.

Local Green Points

Here at Local Green Points we’re experts at engaging with communities to encourage residents to reduce, reuse and recycle. Our approach is innovative – combining web and app platforms, communications campaigns and face to face engagement to connect with our target audience. We find rewards and incentives key to promoting ongoing behaviour change, so we reward members of our campaigns with points for every positive step they take – whether it’s preventing food waste, recycling more, using a Bring bank or reducing contamination. Residents work together to earn the most points and win prizes for their local community. In the last month we’ve been in Warwickshire, Norfolk, and West London handing out prizes to some real recycling champions and great local causes. When it comes to electronics, we’re working with residents of 13 boroughs to encourage them to fix them up, donate them, reuse them or recycle them!

21/07/201718/05/2023

The war on plastics – how can you tackle plastic overuse in your workplace?

Here’s an interesting, if slightly depressing fact: Every bit of plastic ever made still exists today. It’s a material that is made to last, but the majority of products made with plastic are only used once and then tossed in the bin without further thought. This consume, waste, replace culture is doing serious damage to our planet, as it turns out plastic takes at least 450 years to decompose. This month is Plastic Free July, so we’re here to let you know why you should seriously rethink your plastic consumption and give you some handy tips on how to get reducing, reusing and recycling and spread the word in your workplace.

Plastic is not so fantastic

This week new research from US scientists hit the headlines, revealing that by 2015 humans had produced 8.3 billion tons of plastic, of which 6.3 billion tons has become waste. And it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. The study also revealed that of this amount of the plastic (which weighs the equivalent of one billion elephants), a mere 9% was recycled. So where is it all?

An environmental nightmare

In 2015 12% of plastic produced was incinerated and the other 79% was sent to landfill or ended up in our natural environment. This is devastating news for our oceans, where more than 8 million tonnes of plastic are dumped every year, resulting in 1 in 3 marine species being found entangled in litter and over 90% of sea birds being found with plastics in their stomachs.

What can you do?

Now before you shed a tear for the poor sea turtles and then turn to buy your next plastic bottle of water, think about this: there is a lot you and your colleagues can do to help solve this waste crisis. We’ve listed a few useful tips below.

Ditch plastic bottles

Get yourself a reusable bottle and a re-usable coffee cup for grabbing a hot or cold drink on the go, whether that’s on the way to work or in between meetings. Across all of our Jump sustainability engagement programmes we reward employees who make the switch to reusable bottles and cups with individual and team prizes.

Shop sustainably

Get yourself a reusable shopping bag, carry it with you everywhere you go and commit to never using a plastic bag again! So whether you’re on your lunch break or popping out for a mid-morning snack, you won’t fall into the trap of using excess plastic bags and gathering a guilty stash under your desk. Better still, avoid unnecessary plastic packaging. There are a lot of sustainable options emerging such as laser labelling and products with reduced plastic packaging.

Choose to re-use

When you use plastic products, make sure to always re-use and recycle them. A lot of plastics can be a useful addition to your kitchen cupboards, such as plastic takeaway boxes and pots which can be used for storing leftover food or as a lunchbox. There are plenty of ways to reuse plastics, but if you really can’t find a way, you can always recycle. Make sure to check what your options are for recycling in your workplace, so you can do your bit in the office as well as at home. Our Jump employee engagement programmes have waste saving modules that encourage employees to recycle more and waste less, as well as promoting wider environmental messages and sustainability events taking place within the organisation. By incentivising employees we achieve lasting behaviour change.

Check out our Jump website to find out more about how you could incentivise your staff to engage in sustainability. In the meantime, get on board with boycotting plastics!

14/07/201718/05/2023

Wasting clothes is out of fashion. Why more of us are recycling textiles.

The nation’s habits are changing! WRAP’s new report, Valuing our Clothes: The Cost of UK Fashion shows that as a country we are now putting less clothing and textiles into residual waste, and finding ways to re-use and recycle textiles instead. The report revealed that since 2012, 50,000 tonnes fewer items of clothing have been disposed of in household bins.

Fantastic news! And here’s why it’s such a big deal:

The true cost of cheap clothes is felt by the planet

When it comes to clothes, our compulsion to buy cheap, break and then replace is actually a very costly process. Manufacturing clothes uses vast amounts of resources (it takes 1,800 gallons of water to make one pair of jeans!), not to mention the carbon emissions associated with the transport of these garments. WRAP estimates that extending the lifetime of 50% of UK clothing by nine months would save 8% carbon, 10% water and 4% waste, on a per-tonne basis. And from their report, it looks like consumers are starting to get the message.

Landfill out of fashion – our values are changing

WRAP’s research is significant because it indicates a rising trend towards adopting more sustainable behaviours. Not only are we sending less textiles to landfill, we are also taking actions to extend the life of our clothes, so we replace them less often. WRAP reports that in the UK, more people now wash their clothes at 30 degrees instead of 40 and use tumble dryers less frequently. These regular changes lead to approximately 700,000 tonnes less CO2 emissions in the UK each year.

The Giants are awakening

Increasingly, major clothing designers, brands, manufacturers, retailers and fashion houses are signing up to WRAP’s initiative: Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP), which commits these companies to reporting on carbon, water and waste footprints of their clothing every year. Primark is the latest retailer to sign up to the SCAP initiative alongside Asda, Asos, Arcadia, Ted Baker, Next and JoJo Maman Bébé. Still more work to do Despite the positive feedback from WRAP’s report, the overall environmental footprint of UK clothing has risen by 2 million tonnes since 2012 and now stands at 26 million tonnes of CO2e, putting clothing fourth after housing, transport and food in terms of its impact on the environment. At Local Green Points we run recycling schemes to raise awareness about the importance of sending less waste to landfill, with modules focused on recycling and upcycling textiles. By rewarding sustainable behaviour changes, we successfully motivate and engage residents to reduce, re-use and recycle what they might have wasted.

Find out more about our recycling rewards schemes here

16/06/201718/05/2023

We’ve launched our new food waste challenge!

You breader believe it! The Food Waste challenge is launching and rolling out across three London Boroughs this month – Havering, Kingston and Waltham Forest. Now you might think “that’s a bit munch”, “wheat’s in it for me?”, “I don’t carrot all”, or “I donut want to get involved”, but we think it’s incredibly eggciting and we’re looking forward to seeing some fantastic results in food waste reduction.

But – puns aside – food waste is a chronic issue in the UK, with 1 in 3 of us throwing away a banana with a minor bruise or black mark on the skin and households throwing away 40% of the bagged salad they buy every year. WRAP estimates that 4.2 tonnes of perishable food is wasted or lost each year – that’s as much as £700 a family.

Most of this waste stems from our mind-set when it comes to food. While it’s tempting to blame supermarkets, research has shown that only 1% of all food waste comes from our supermarket and almost 7.3 tonnes comes from family households. So what can we do? Our Food Waste Challenge sets out to tackle just that: The Food Waste Challenge is our innovative new programme that will motivate members of our Jump (Local Green Points) schemes to reduce their household food waste. The dynamic challenge will engage members in smarter shopping habits, better portion control and using up leftovers, as well as participating in a food recycling service where that’s provided, by mixing an online platform, video content and targeted digital communications. Members will also receive rewards for cutting down their food waste, such as vouchers from popular high street brands including iTunes and M&S.

As with all our schemes, we know that by rewarding members for positive sustainable behaviours we can create long lasting behavioural change. At Jump (Local Green Points), we work with local councils to incentivise sustainability and wellbeing through rewarding residents involved in our schemes with individual and community prizes for wasting less and recycling more. Local Councils, such as Bexley, Kingston and Waltham Forest work with us to engage residents in better recycling practises. We are also experts at delivering door-to-door engagement campaigns to educate residents.

So if you think you’re up to the challenge why not find out if the Food Waste Challenge is coming to an area near you!

02/06/201718/05/2023

Sick of soggy salad leaves? We’ve come up with a great alternative!

This week it emerged that UK consumers throw away 40% of the bagged salad they buy every year. That is 37,000 tonnes, the equivalent of 178million bags, going uneaten every year. Mind boggling figures.

But really when you think about it – this news is unsurprising. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t lost many a salad bag to a soggy fate at the back of the fridge and ultimately the bin. Many of us have good intentions to eat salad with every meal, but end up wasting it instead.

It turns out there is a simple, delicious solution (that I have tried and tested myself) – make and store a massive salad that will stay fresh and crisp all week long. If you have a busy lifestyle and not much time for cooking, this 10 minute salad preparation will save you money and time preparing meals and make you much more likely to actually eat the salad.How to make a delicious salad that lasts all week 1. Get the leaves out of the bagYes, I know it goes against all instincts, but the first tip is not to shove that bag of fresh salad at the back of the fridge. Instead, empty the whole packet into a big bowl and use as the base of your salad. 2. Add your extrasThere are plenty of delicious salad recipes out there – but the idea here is to make a base salad that you can add to anything. So I tend to only add a few of my favourite staple salad vegetables – tomatoes, peppers, carrots and olives. Seeds and nuts are also delicious extras with amazing health benefits that will stay fresh in your salad all week. 3. Store your saladThis is the crucial step – store your salad in an airtight container with a piece of paper kitchen towel. Sounds bizarre but this method has been tried and tested by salad enthusiasts and proves extremely effective. The paper towel absorbs excess moisture and keeps your salad fresh.

4. Use that salad however and whenever you wantI found when I used this method, my salad had all gone in three days and I had been able to actually get those difficult to eat greens in my diet! Once you have a base, you can add anything you want to it the next day – cooked meat, beans, lentils, avocados and salad dressing of your choice, or simply add it as a side dish to any meal.

5. Dispose of any waste properlyIf you do have any leftover salad or food waste make sure to dispose of it properly! Check with your local council if they provide food waste caddies and the correct caddy liners you should use with them. Alternatively you can compost your salad and a lot of other food waste. Check with your local council to see if they offer discounted compost bin through GetComposting and pick one up cheaply! Here at Local Green Points we run schemes on behalf of local councils and employers to incentivise residents to dispose of waste properly. Our Food Waste Challenge rewards residents for reducing the amount of food they throw away and encourages positive behaviour change.

Find out more information about our recycling reward schemes here.

31/05/201720/03/2024

West Norfolk Recycling Rewards awards £3,000 to three local charities

West Norfolk Recycling Rewards has awarded £3,000 to three local charities at an event attended by Councillor Ian Devereux. The scheme has been running for one year and this is the second time local charities have benefitted from the recycling efforts of local residents.

19/05/201720/02/2024

Rubbish recycling tips: Were you misinformed by the media this week about what you can and can’t recycle?

This week, whisky lovers and cleaning fanatics were left questioning their shopping habits, from the news that the elaborate packaging on these products makes them are “a nightmare” to recycle. As well as cleaning spray bottles with a metal spring and whisky bottle packaging, Pringles tubes and Lucozade Sports bottles were singled out by The Recycling Association as “villains” of the recycling world.

This advice, however, was somewhat misleading. As several councils were quick to reply, items such as Lucozade bottles, Whisky bottles and cleaning spray bottles can actually be recycled.

What’s more, we shouldn’t be aiming to demotivate people from engaging in sustainable behaviours. A video on the BBC’s website started with the line: “Did you know… that much of your recycling actually ends up as landfill?”. In fact, landfill is an extremely expensive way of dealing with non-recyclable materials that councils are keen to avoid. For example, Bexley Council avoids sending non-recyclable waste to landfill by sending items to be incinerated to produce Energy-From-Waste. Bexley has the highest recycling rates in London, with 54% of domestic waste being recycled, well above the national average of 44.9%. In a recent survey we carried out, 55% of people couldn’t identify what materials should be recycled. If we are really aiming to encourage sustainable practices at home and in the workplace then we should not be sending out mixed messages or misinformation. While it is important to emphasise the need to make packaging that is more sustainable, let’s not put people off recycling in the process. A brilliant alternative for non-recyclable items is to get creative with reuse. The BBC has suggested some great ways to reuse a Pringles can. At Local Green Points, we incentivise sustainability and wellbeing through rewarding residents involved in our scheme with individual and community prizes for wasting less and recycling more. Local Councils, such as Bexley and West Norfolk work with us to engage residents in better recycling practises. We are also experts at delivering door-to-door engagement campaigns to educate residents.

So before you believe everything you read, check with your local council what items can and can’t be recycled. You might not need to ditch the whisky just yet…

12/05/201718/05/2023

RBS shortlisted for prestigious Business Green Leaders Award

This month we’re proud to announce that our Jump scheme at RBS has been shortlisted for a BusinessGreen Leaders Award, in the Employee Engagement Campaign of the Year category. Following a successful pilot and roll out of Jump across 1,700 workplace locations in the UK and Ireland, RBS have been recognised for their use of Jump as a platform to engage employees in sustainable work place culture.

The Jump behaviour change programme at RBS uses custom made, online modules to inform staff and reward them for implementing sustainable behaviours. Modules cover topics such as water saving, energy saving and sustainable travel. Since implementation at RBS, Jump has led to a 5% average electricity reduction at pilot locations, 500,000 disposable cups being saved and RBS expects to save £3million in 2017 in energy alone.

The BusinessGreen awards ceremony celebrates the considerable progress UK green businesses have made in improving their sustainability policies and use of clean technologies and RBS’s selection is fantastic evidence of Jump’s success and impact on improving sustainability in the workplace. We look forward to the awards ceremony on the 28th June this year.

Read more about the BusinessGreen Leaders Awards here

27/04/201718/05/2023

Is there money in your rubbish?

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure – so the saying goes. An article recently published by Money Saving Expert suggests there could be some truth in this.

Thrifty householders have been making money selling on their household waste, with toilet roll tubes, jam jars and coat hangers proving to be in high demand with those doing arts and crafts.

If you’re thinking of flogging your rubbish, you’ll need to head to eBay to find your customers. Perfume bottles have been going for the highest price, of up to £8 a pop, while toilet roll and kitchen roll tubes sell for 10-16p per item. You’d better be prepared to collect your rubbish in bulk though, because it’s bundles of items that are selling. Over a 3 month period, the top rubbish sales on eBay included 492 bundles of coat hangers and 420 bundles of wine corks. Even 36 bundles of milk bottle tops sold during this time.

Seeing some value in rubbish is a great way to challenge our perceptions of household waste. While hoarding your waste to sell online may not be for everyone, most of the items listed can be easily recycled from your kerbside containers to prevent waste of these valuable materials.

For more information on what can be recycled and where, check Recycle Now. If you can find a market for your unwanted rubbish, think what you can do with good quality items from around the home, like electronics and furniture, that you no longer need. Head to eBay or Gumtree to sell these on. Alternatively, try free local reuse sites Freegle and Freecycle or donate to a local charity shop if you want to clear these items out without asking for money.

Tag: Recycling