What Are The Easiest Things To Recycle At Home?

Aug 14, 2022
2 min read

Many Australians are unaware that they live in one of the world's most wasteful nations. For this reason, in Australia's fight against waste, we must make our voices heard. We can all work together to save this beautiful place if we each choose to take action and fight for it.

Every year, millions of tonnes of recyclable waste are dumped in our landfills. Therefore, doing your part by recycling what you can is worthwhile. Particularly when you consider how simple it is to recycle some unwanted goods you may have lying around your house.

Keep in mind that the more waste transferred to recycling facilities, the less will end up on the earth and the better it will be for our planet. There are some basic materials found in most homes that you can start recycling today:

Aluminium

While most metals may be recycled, aluminium cans are by far the easiest household item to recycle. You can also profit from it, which benefits both the environment and your wallet. Additionally, aluminium maintains its 100% recyclable characteristics eternally, allowing for ongoing reclamation and reuse. Recycling aluminium cans requires 95% less energy than producing new ones from scratch. You can also recycle coffee, fruit, and Milo containers made of steel; all they need is a good clean.

Glass

The majority of glass containers in your home are 100% recyclable and may be recycled continually, much like aluminium. Since recycling glass can replace 95% of the raw materials used to create new glass items, it is also relatively environmentally benign. Always wash out your glass containers before recycling them.

Plastics

The typical Australian home uses 20 kg of PET plastic every year. In addition to being recyclable, making sure they are reused greatly benefits the environment. Sadly, almost 80% of PET drink and water bottles still wind up in landfills. Therefore, it's time for us all to start changing these dismal numbers. You can also recycle thicker plastic bottles like those used for shampoo or soap. Simply remove and throw away their plastic lids, wash the containers thoroughly, and recycle them.

Paper

In reality, methane, a hazardous greenhouse gas, is created as paper decomposes, and it retains more heat below the ozone layer than carbon monoxide. Thankfully, recycling newspaper is another straightforward housekeeping task. Newspaper recycling can save about 65% of the energy used to produce new papers. Additionally, you can recycle all types of paper very easily and not just newspapers. You can send anything to the recycle centre, including junk mail, old letters, coupon flyers, glossy magazines, and anything in between.

Cardboard

Not only is paper simple to recycle, but all the numerous kinds of cardboard you have at home are also easy to recycle. One tonne of recycled cardboard from pizza boxes or cereal boxes can save around 25% of the energy required to produce new cardboard. Therefore, recycling cardboard is essential to making Australia a greener and less polluted nation. You can also recycle the shiny, thin materials like shoe box cardboard. To maximise the amount of room in your recycling bin, be sure to break down and flatten all the cardboard to intent to recycle.

Other items you can recycle or reuse

Here are ten everyday items you can breathe new life into and are great for recycling at home.

Plastic water bottles

The most important thing to do is to decrease the number of water bottles you use  by installing a water filtration system and drinking at home using actual glasses or mugs. Use a reusable water bottle to transport water with you. Here are some ways you can recycle water bottles yourself:

• If you don't own a low-flow toilet, you can reduce water flow by adding a plastic water bottle to your tank (fill it with water, so it doesn't merely float to the top).
• Remove the bottoms from water bottles, then insert seedlings.
• Of course, you can reuse plastic bottles for crafting, the help make perfect circles!
• If you must use a plastic water bottle, put it in the recycling bin rather than adding to the problem of single-use plastic trash.

Plastic bags

Refuse plastic bags wherever you can so you reduce your overall use of plastic. Bring your own bags to the grocery store or farmer's market; it's easy to make the switch once you get in the habit of using them.

However, there are situations when you still end up with a plastic bag. There are options for recycling or reusing them at home:

• Line your trash cans rather than purchasing plastic bin liners.
• To prevent debris or dried paint flakes from falling into the liquid during painting, place a plastic bag over the paint can lid before reinstalling it.
• Recycle them at supermarkets and specific kerb sides.
• Save them to wrap delicate objects for storing or shipping.

Aluminium foil

There are loads of ways to reuse aluminium foil. Just make sure it’s clean and free from any food debris:

• Reflector: Place foil behind plants in the shade to shine a light on them.
• Utensil sharpener: Fold over scraps of aluminium foil six times. By repeatedly cutting through the foil, you can sharpen blades or scissors.
• You can line a little dish with foil to clean your jewellery.  Combine one spoonful of powder laundry detergent and boiling water to the dish. After 1-2 minutes of swirling, remove the jewellery and let it air dry.
• Dryer ball: To help reduce static cling and wrinkles, crumple foil into a 2-3 inch ball and put it in the dryer with your wool dryer balls.

CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes

When you're prepared to get rid of obsolete media goods, ask your neighbourhood recycling facility if they would accept them. This is the simplest method of recycling these items. If not, here are some intriguing strategies to prevent them from overcrowding the dump:

• Use CDs to create a unique scarecrow. Birds and other daylight animals will stay away from your garden because of the light reflected from them. Alternatively, if you have a pet that you feed outside, it helps prevent birds from stealing its food.
• Recycle them at a nearby arts and crafts facility, where they are used to create drop spindles for spinning wool or the foundation of gift bags.
• Make a reflecting CD collage for your ceiling or wall.
• Instead of purchasing plastic rope, use old VHS tape to tie garden poles together.

Recycling at home

If you take the time to set up a comprehensive recycling system, recycling more at home won't take much work. This approach begins with having areas in your home where you may store your recycled goods, whether this is a box, container, or bag. Remind everyone to recycle  as much as possible by keeping the recycling bin close to the garbage can.