Zero Waste and Recycling Fun!

With the ongoing problem of litter and waste pollution our planet, two wonderful organisation have been set up Zero Waste week and National Recycle Week to promote and spread the word about being zero waste to help our environment live on in all its beauty and how to be mindful and smart about recycling! These are great organisation which were both founded quite a few years ago both with the aim to make our environment a cleaner and more eco-friendly place!

As a community and county, Kent can help tackle this awful problem by doing our bit for the environment, whether that’s recycling your household rubbish or reusing your litter for other things. Our aim as a team and community is to reduce our use of single-use plastics and use more eco-friendly and reusable products and containers, all while getting active outdoors and enjoying a scrummy picnic with all eco-friendly packaging afterwards!

This is how you can help the environment for Zero Waste Week and National Recycle Week…

Why not do your part for our beautiful environment which can contribute to Zero Waste by reducing, reusing and recycling! Whether you recycle when at home or when you are on an adventure through the outdoors and have a yummy picnic, these are great tips and tricks on how to be Zero Waste and help our environment!

Avoiding and Reducing waste

• Avoid using disposable bags when shopping by taking a reusable one when shopping.
• Donate unused and unwanted goods to charities to avoid throwing them away.
• Stop unwanted junk mail by cancelling any unwanted subscriptions.
• Avoid individually wrapped items and snack packs, buy in bigger sizes which have less packaging.
• Compost food and garden waste.
• Buy recycled and biodegradable items when possible.
• Avoid single-use plastic bottles for water, use a reusable bottle.
• Contact or join a clothing swap to avoid having to dispose of clothing.

Reusing Waste

• Reuse old envelopes by sticking labels over any old addresses.
• Pots and jars can be reused for storage, used for tea light holders or even as a drink container.
• Carrier bags to be reused when shopping.
• Tinfoil, plastic bottles and cardboard packaging can be reused for arts and crafts for the kids!
• Electrical items can be sold on or donated.
• Newspaper and cardboard boxes can be useful if planning to move to a new house, however, can also be used for arts and crafts, yay!
• Paint old wooden furniture to give it a new look e.g. wardrobes, chest of drawers, tables and chairs.
• Old bikes can be refurbished by a specific charity, The Bike Project, which often provides employment and training opportunities to disadvantaged communities and affordable bikes for resale.
• Broken garden machinery or tools could be used as spare parts to fix others.

Recycling Waste

• Reuse old wood for DIY projects such as garden planter or new furniture.
• Old clothes and materials can be made into cushions and pillowcases.
• Recycle items using your kerbside recycling bins. This waste will then get processed and used in the manufacturing of new products.
• Compost garden and food waste or if you’re not able to compost at home, your local district or borough council may have a collection service. Once composted the material is then used on farmers’ fields to support the growth of crops.
• Recycling items at Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs)
• Find recycling points in your local area that accept materials not yet recycled through your kerbside e collection or at HWRCs e.g. carrier bags, coffee pods and cat food pouches.
• Use recycling litter bins when ‘eating on the go’ whenever possible.

This is how the Explore Kent team helped the environment for Zero Waste Week and National Recycle Week…

To support Zero Waste Week and National Recycle Week and also to stick with our Explore Kent morals of getting active and getting outside, some of the Explore Kent team went on a Zero Waste summer picnic at the Bearsted Woodland Trust. We went to explore the beautiful rolling fields and took a yummy picnic to enjoy all while taking in the stunning views of Bearsted. We decide to do this to support this amazing cause to conquer the use of single-use plastic and litter pollution.

During this fantastic week, we dare you to go completely Zero Waste whether you are at work or at the beach having a lovely coastal stroll… try and give this awesome challenge a go to help our wonderful county be a cleaner place! As a team, we are going to carry on helping Zero waste and recycling become more known and try and use as many reusable products as we can, so why don’t you try too?! Bye, bye single-use plastic!