Did you know?

Spend a penny-halfpenny! According to water regulator Ofwat - an average bath costs about 15 pence to fill, a toilet flush about 1.5p, a machine wash about 11p and an hour using a hosepipe about 95p. People don't often know that!

The average house in Cheshire produces 1.5 tonnes of waste every year – that’s like putting a baby elephant in your dustbin – and we’ve got the worst record the UK! Most of this goes to landfill sites where it eventually releases methane gas that is about 30 times worse than carbon dioxide in terms of global warming.

☺What can I do? – Keep on recycling waste and start you own home compost bin to cut down on waste volumes and disposal costs. It’s fun, looks like a Dalek, and produces great compost. AND it only costs you only £5 per bin (including delivery) from Cheshire County Council. 500,000 people in the UK have already got one.

Call the compost bin hotline on 0845 230 7877 Quote ref CH02 and select the size that suits your garden or go to the Cheshire County Council site

STOP JUNK MAIL in 5 minutes. It’s simple to stop junk mail filling your bin and it will save our postman’s back – just call the mailing preference service on 0845 703 4599 and they’ll make sure you are taken off junk mailing lists!! Or visit www.mpsonline.org.uk.

What’s in the future: Some councils are now weighing people’s rubbish and thinking about charging them for the amount of stuff they throw away. But they might give rebates to those with low volumes of waste.

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We’ve done such a good job with paper recycling that Shotton paper mill now produces only recycled paper.

☺What can I do? – keep on recycling your paper and cardboard and help the paper mill stay in business by buying recycled paper. Recycled paper is now such high quality that it can even be better for your home printer than virgin white paper. Some firms now only use recycled paper as their printers break down less often.

Get info on recycled paper sources from Clean Merseyside Centre
Contact the CMC:

Clean Merseyside Centre
6th/7th Floor North House
17 North John Street
Liverpool L2 5QY
T: 0151 236 1328
F: 0151 236 9581
contact@clean-merseyside.com

☺If you have the time (!) pick supermarket products that are wrapped in recycled packaging or best of all, get stuff from local farmers markets. It’s fun to go there, the produce is fresh as it comes from down the road and did not cause the huge emissions that occur when food is brought in by jumbo jet.

What’s in the future: Supermarkets like Tesco and Sainsbury’s have committed to reduce packaging or use recycled materials in their products over the next few years.

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