Money
Getting the best deal
Save £100s on...recycling
Not everything needs to be used once and thrown away. The number of options to use, re-use, recycle and repair products are increasing by the week. With just a bit of effort you could save £100s and help the environment too, writes Teena Lyons
Step one: Use. The average household uses 21 batteries a year and the UK generates more than 20,000 tonnes of waste batteries over the same period. Switching to rechargeable batteries will save cash and the number of batteries you use.
One note of caution though - rechargeable batteries are not suitable for smoke alarms because they do tend to run out suddenly, thus by-passing the usual 'low-battery' warning built into the alarms. To extend the life of ordinary batteries always remove them from appliances if they are not being used for some time.
Step two: Re-use. A lot of manufacturers are getting in on the act now too. Ecover (www.ecover.com) which manufactures eco-friendly cleaning products and detergents, provides retailers all over the country with vats of detergents. Just take your empty bottle along and fill up – and pay around 20 per cent less than the cost of a new bottle.
Then there is the Green Stationery Company (www.greenstat.co.uk) where you can buy everything from refilled printer cartridges to inserts for your highlighter pen. MAC, the Canadian cosmetic company, offers a free lipstick when you return six containers to a MAC store.
Step three: Recycle. More than 30 million inkjet cartridges are dumped each year in the UK and the plastics used in their manufacture take more than 1000 years to decompose. At present, just five per cent of empty cartridges are being recycled but that number is growing thanks to a number of easy-to-use online services such as www.empty-cartridges.co.uk, www.recyclingfactory.com and www.cashforcartridges.co.uk.
They all pay cash for cartridges, although the amount is small. You could, of course, earn more (and do your bit) by setting up a collection system from friends and colleagues.
Step four: Repair. When was the last time you went to the cobbler? Thanks to globalisation of trade and so-called fast fashion, it is now often seems as cheap to buy new shoes than to repair a trusty pair. But lobbing the old ones into landfill has a cost too. The same goes for lamps, toasters, computers and TVs. Find your local repair shop and get a quote.
