Ways to stop littering

What are the best ways to stop littering is a frequent discussion topic and action in schools, communities and other organisations. Safe guarding our environment for future generations is vital and reducing littering and increasing recycling have a significant role to play. The past 10 years have seen an increase in recycling programs, with a focus on what can and cannot be reused with businesses looking to do their part to reduce waste going into landfill. Cleanup initiatives have found that some of the most common items polluting our environment include cigarette butts, plastic bags, straws and plastic lids. Another big contributor to waste is paper with schools a significant contributor. This article considers the different options there are to help stop littering.

Importance of Composting/Recycling

Where possible it’s important that to make the extra effort to recycle and reuse products. Manufacturers make it easy for us to see what products we can recycle by placing recycling symbols on products that can be placed on yellow bins. Within the three arrows there is also a number between 1 and 5 which tells recycling plants of the appropriate recycling method for the material. Help kids to recycle in fun and creative ways like:

• Place your kids in charge of recycling
• Donate unused clothes and toys to charity shops
• Save 10c cans and bottles for collection centers
• Encourage your kids to become involved in Clean up and Green Team initiatives.
• Make rubbish disposal easy by placing multiple rubbish bins around common areas.

Eliminating Use of Single Use Items

Single Use plastics are easily produced, inexpensive items intended for a singular use and disposal. Unfortunately such temporary usage means that they are some of the biggest waste offenders. The fact that a lot of plastic can take over 400 years to breakdown in rubbish tips, further adds to the problem. As a result, many items appearing in our waste tips and our oceans fall under this category, so it is important to reduce our use of these items.  Supermarkets have phased out single use plastic bags, so it’s important you bring your own shopping bag when shopping for groceries. Help your kids become involved by placing them in charge of remembering the shopping bags. With water refill stations available within most schools and council areas, single use plastic bottles can be eliminated for a range of colourful and environmentally friendly drink bottles able to fit easily into backpacks. For senior students who are discovering the taste of coffee encouraging them to bring a keep-cup with their coffee purchase is an easy and environmentally friendly habit for them to adopt. Cutlery and straws are two other single use plastics that often end up in landfill or within our oceans, so reminding our kids to bring knives and forks with their packed lunches and metal straws reduces plastic consumption.

With landfills piling over its more important than ever that we all play our part in recycling. Here at Felton Industries, we make learning about recycling easy for your children with our range of rubbish and recycling bin enclosures available in a range of bright and vibrant colours. With chute design enhanced for rubbish collection, and dual access to chutes our bin enclosures are an ideal addition for: schools, parks, sports clubs and resort/outdoor spaces. Get in touch with our friendly team on 1800 834 016 to find out more.