Most of us today are in the good habit of recycling. Needless to say, there’s always room for improvement. Every extra bit of effort, makes a significant impact on our planet and for future generations. Check if you can tick off any or all of these recycling hacks below, so you can do a better job of making life greener for all of us!
1. Make Recycling Easy
Make it easy to recycle at home and in the office by setting up recycling bins for paper, plastic and metal in more than one location. Make the bins easy to find and label each one clearly. Simply by making recycling spots convenient can make a big difference to reducing waste.
2. Re-Purpose Paper
Whenever printing on paper at the office, be sure to print on both sides. Then of course, recycle all that paper when you’re done, including any old newspapers laying around in the office and reception areas.
An office who recycles one ton of paper, will save 17 trees, 64 litres of water and more than two cubic yards of landfill space - now that’s a corporate culture you can be proud of!
3. Ditch The Takeaway Coffee Cup
Take a morning walk any day through the CBD and you’ll witness rows of workers lining up for their early caffeine hit. Whilst the energy kick is a hit with the crowd, it’s the garbage bins brimming with disposable cups and lids, which suffer big time as a result.
It's estimated that almost three billion cups of coffee are sold each year in Australia - and most of these aren't recycled. You can help turn this around by switching your take-away cup for a re-usable mug. You won’t just look stylish, you’ll be sustainable too!
4. Get E-Waste Efficient
Computers and electronic goods are all classified as e-waste. E-waste contains toxic and hazardous materials such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and brominated fire retardants. In other words, a whole bunch of nasty ingredients we don’t want anywhere near our landfills.
Get your e-waste sorted by searching for an electronic waste collection service in your area, or go to the government’s Computer Recycling Scheme page to find a drop off point near you.
5. Recycle That Mobile
Old mobile phones and mobile batteries cannot be recycled simply by dropping them in your council recycling bin. Help address our growing e-waste epidemic by disposing of used mobile phones and accessories responsibly.
You can drop old phones at any MobileMuster Collection Point, or send via post using free recycling satchel from Australia Post.
6. Recycle Printer Cartridges
Printer and ink cartridges are made from a complex combination of plastics, metals, foam, ink and toner - another type of e-waste we definitely don’t want leaching into our waterways.
The great news is, Planet Ark offers an innovative recycling program that’s completely free. To date, they have prevented over 133,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases from being released into the atmosphere - proving every cartridge collected does count!
Take your cartridges to any Planet Ark retail collection partner (including Officeworks, JB Hi-Fi, participating Australia Posts, Harvey Norman and The Good Guys) or contact their Recycling Hotline on 1300 733 712 to see if your business is eligible for a cartridges collection box.
7. Buy Rechargeable Batteries
A record number of batteries are used in a whole range of technologies including mobile phones, laptops, personal organisers, cars, alarms and clocks. Made up of heavy metals and other toxic elements, these batteries threaten our environment if not properly discarded and/or recycled.
The best approach is to use rechargeable batteries. Rechargeable batteries can be used up to 1000 times, making them a much cheaper option and much more eco-friendly. For disposing of old or unusable batteries, you can find more information about recycling batteries here.