Waste - the mess we're in!

Did you know?

If everyone in the world was as wasteful as we are in the UK we'd need 8 worlds to keep going.

We recycle less than one fifth of our household waste but other countries like Germany and Holland recycle half.

throwing out rubbish The average person in the UK throws out their body weight in rubbish every 3 months. Most of this could be reused or recycled.

The Government launched a new waste plan in February 2006 but we think they can do better...

They propose a big increase in burning our rubbish, which wastes resources that could be recycled and contributes to climate change.
They set a target to recycle half our waste by 2020. This would mean we have only just reached the levels that some countries in Europe reached 5 years ago.

Friends of the Earth wants the government to put into practice a three-step plan to deal with Britain 's waste crisis:

Reduce waste produced.
Make manufacturers and shops redesign and reduce packaging or make it recyclable.
Recycle at least 75 per cent of household waste

You can help!

Reduce

Ask your parents to carry cloth bags when they go shopping.
Store left over food in a re-usable container instead of cling film or foil.

Re-use

Swap books, DVDs, and CDs with your friends.
Donate old clothes, books, and shoes to your local charity shop.
Re-use old envelopes and pieces of paper.

Recycle

Make your own paper and cards to give as presents.
Get your parents to recycle at home and ask your school to start a recycling scheme.
For more info on waste and recycling download our Mad about or our Waste and recycling (PDF † format - 1044K) booklet.

†To view PDF files you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visually impaired users can get extra help with these documents from access.adobe.com.

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