Refuse to use the world’s resources
We must reduce our reliance on the planet’s resources and produce less. Manufacturing uses energy, damages biodiversity and creates carbon emissions.
Intelligent design, management of stocks and re-use of materials, as well as a wholesale move away from fossil fuels can help, but what is really required is a change in public consumption of goods, travel and services, and a move to re-using and re-purposing what we have.
The circular economy is a way of showing that we must not bring new materials and fossil fuel energy into the cycle, and we must not let the things we have go to waste and landfill. We must continue to use them in different ways. Things which you call waste all have a value.
You can help by switching to clean energy using Big Clean Switch and using less resources in your home, office and travel.
Reduce your consumption of damaging new materials and fossil fuels
Most of our energy consumption happens in the home, in creating and shipping the things we buy, and in travel to and from work and leisure.
You can reduce your use of the planet’s resources and reduce your carbon footprint by making some simple changes and some lifestyle decisions. Our pages show that you can retrofit your home so that it does not waste heat and energy, and switch to more efficient ways of using fuel. You can switch to alternative means of travel that are less harmful, or work from home if feasible. And choose to staycation!
Re-use to extend the life of the resources that you own.
You can save new resources being used and reduce the energy used in manufacture by extending the life of your possessions or donating them to others to use. Our pages teach you to re-purpose textiles and household goods to extend their lives before recycling them into other useful items. Don’t dispose of anything without considering how to keep it in the circular economy.
Re-purpose to convert goods into other useful things at a low energy cost
Whether it’s using plastic water bottles to act as bird feeders, a wellie as a plant pot, or wooden crates as pallets, we can all find new uses for items which would otherwise go to landfill. It is especially important to re-purpose single use plastic items which cannot be recycled and which have to be incinerated or go to landfill, as these don’t degrade and continue to damage wildlife and the environment for thousands of years.
Single-use plastics are made from fossil fuels, are use only once in their original purpose, and then pollute for ever. So try and avoid packaging which is single-use plastic. If you have to buy a plastic item, use it as long as possible in as many creative guises as you can. Wash out and disinfect your plant pots and use them to grow salads and herbs. And then look at our Terracycle recycling schemes to see if you can dispose of it for charity at a specialist recycling centre.
Recycle to make the most of what we have
When we recycle, used materials are converted into new products, reducing the need to consume natural resources. If used materials are not recycled, new products are made by extracting fresh, raw material from the Earth, through mining and forestry.
Recycling helps conserve important raw materials and protects natural habitats for the future.
Recycling saves energy
Using recycled materials in the manufacturing process uses considerably less energy than that required for producing new products from raw materials – even when comparing all associated costs including transport etc.
Plus there are extra energy savings because more energy is required to extract, refine, transport and process raw materials ready for industry compared with providing industry-ready materials.
Recycling helps protect the environment
Recycling reduces the need for extracting (mining, quarrying and logging), refining and processing raw materials all of which create substantial air and water pollution.
As recycling saves energy it also reduces greenhouse gas emissions, which helps to tackle climate change. Current UK recycling is estimated to save more than 18 million tonnes of C02 a year – the equivalent to taking 5 million cars off the road.
Recycling reduces landfill
When we recycle, recyclable materials are reprocessed into new products, and as a result the amount of rubbish sent to landfill sites reduces. There are over 1,500 landfill sites in the UK, and in 2001, these sites produced a quarter of the UK’s emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.