Recycling plastic

There are so many different types of plastic floating around, and the UK generates 3 million tonnes of plastic waste every year, of which only 7% is recycled.

The main types of plastic are:

• HDPE – (High-density polyethylene - Opaque bottles such as bottles for milk and washing-up liquids)
• PVC – (Polyvinyl chloride - Transparent bottles including bottles for squash, mineral water and shampoo. Also food trays and cling film)
• PET – (Polyethylene terephthalate - Transparent bottles, with a hard moulded spot in the centre of the base such as fizzy drink bottles. Oven-ready meal trays are also PET)

The unfortunate case is that most of all the 50 types of plastic can be recycled, it's just that councils aren't giving people the means to do that. Most councils are only accepting certain types of plastic bottles, and we really need to be recycling as much waste as possible.

This is an interesting article from the BBC:

A month without plastic

Christine Jeavans is going to attempt to go a month without buying anything that uses plastic. I think this is a fantastic idea, and it will be very interesting to see how she gets on.

Recycled paper and notebooks

Here's some great news from the BBC:

Jersey government recycling

This is fantastic news; imagine if all government departments (and across the UK too) embraced this way of using recycled paper as a standard.
I think that buying notebooks made from recycled paper is definately the way forward, as well as recycled general paper and notepads. There are some great websites out there that use recycled products in their stationary:

Notebooks with photographic covers featuring endangered species

Recycled notebooks from the Sukie and Remarkable brands

I just hope that buying products like these becomes the norm, because we all really need to become more aware of what's happening to our planet. These kind of notebooks help to spread that message.

Why I'm writing this blog

Hi,
My name is Stephanie, and like most people, I'm concerned about the environment and particularly with my home land, Britain.

The thought that UK households only recycle 10% of their waste really depresses me. 90% of waste gets dumped in landfill sites, which means that if we carry on the way we're going, eventually there won't be much room left to dump it all.

With picturesque parts of Britain already being built on to allow for our expanding population, I really despair at the thought of our entire country being suffocated by a growing problem of waste.
Which is why I'm writing this blog with the intention of informing people about recycling and finding eco-friendly products made from recycled waste.
I welcome comments and suggestions, so please feel free to comment.