Author: Lucy Ravenhall

Lucy is a long-standing editor of the Forge Recycling blog and loves writing about her environmental passions.

How to reduce food waste in UK schools

School food waste is a significant issue that has plagued the UK’s educational institutions for decades.

If you’re wondering, ‘how much food do schools waste per year?’, you’re in for a shock.

55,408 tonnes of food waste is generated annually by primary schools in England and 24,974 tonnes by secondary schools. That’s a total food waste weight of 80,382 tonnes across England’s schools annually — meaning urgent action must be taken.

Let’s address the reasons behind school food waste before outlining solutions.

Continue reading How to reduce food waste in UK schools

Six ways to reuse helium balloons

Think back to the last party you attended — the chances are it featured foil balloons filled with helium declaring someone’s age or announcing the occasion.

As the UK population becomes increasingly aware of its impact on the environment, items such as balloons are slow to reduce in popularity. In their various guises, balloons have been displayed in celebration of loved ones for decades, so there’s a strong emotional aspect to their use.

As balloons aren’t disappearing off the shelves anytime soon, let’s take a look at why you should reuse them and how to reuse foil balloons to give them another life before landfill.

Continue reading Six ways to reuse helium balloons

How to reuse candle wax and jars

A candle’s flickering flame and scent can soothe an anxious mind and trigger a meditative state.

It’s no wonder candles are such a popular purchase for home décor, with their atmospheric low light and rich, relaxing fragrances.

Unfortunately, burning candles results in leftover containers and wax, but there are ways to make your passion for candles environmentally friendlier.

Let’s take a look at how we can reuse and recycle candle wax and jars, and fix a broken candle wick.

Continue reading How to reuse candle wax and jars

How to recycle your old phone case

There are 71.8 million mobile connections in the UK, which is 4.2 million more than the UK’s population.

From this data, we can assume most adults have at least one mobile phone, and many have a second connection — often a work phone.

As mobile phones are crucial to many of us and expensive to repair or replace, most are protected by a phone case.

On average, we change handsets every 21 months, which means we all buy a lot of phone cases — but how does this impact the environment?

Let’s discuss phone case waste and how it can be reduced or avoided.

Continue reading How to recycle your old phone case

Everything you need to know about recycled wool

Wool is a natural fibre and textile made from the fleece of sheep. It’s used to manufacture a wide variety of products, from jumpers and socks to blankets, carpets and cushion covers.

While wool offers many benefits like softness, warmth, water repellence, and fire resistance (did you know that firefighter uniforms are made from 100% merino wool?), it doesn’t last forever.

Luckily, it is a fibre that takes very well to recycling.

Let’s take a closer look at wool recycling techniques, what the resulting material is made into, and your options for recycling your old woollen garments.

Continue reading Everything you need to know about recycled wool

How to reuse coffee grounds

Used coffee grounds are often seen as standard waste and are typically disposed of after they’ve been used to make coffee.

However, there are many ways to reuse coffee grounds. Knowing what you can do with your leftover coffee can free up space in landfills, benefiting the environment.

This blog post will explain what coffee grounds are, examine if you can reuse them to make more coffee, and outline various inventive ways to reuse them for other purposes.

Continue reading How to reuse coffee grounds

4 ways to defrost car windows in an eco-friendly way

As the season progresses and the temperature drops, you may start to find your car windows need a little attention before you head off to work in the morning.

In this blog post, we will delve into why one of the standard methods for defrosting a car window is terrible for the environment; offering some eco-friendlier alternatives for both the prevention of frost and defrosting once the ice has occurred.

Firstly though, let’s begin with the science.

Continue reading 4 ways to defrost car windows in an eco-friendly way

4 exciting upcycling ideas for kids

As parents, it’s crucial that we teach the concepts of reuse and recycling early on to our children, and what better way to do so than through fun kids’ craft ideas that reuse waste items?

In this blog post, we’ll explore four easy upcycling ideas for kids that they will love – from fairy houses to blossom-covered trees.

These upcycling ideas for children are perfect for a rainy day when you’re stuck indoors, need to keep the kids entertained, and want them to learn something.

Depending on your child’s age, you could boost the educational aspect of the projects by sitting with them and talking to them about the materials they are using — what their original purpose was, and why it’s important to consider every purchase carefully and reuse waste where we can.

Before we jump into the ideas, here’s a quick safety note. Please supervise your children at all times when crafting and help them, as required, when they are using scissors, glue, and other potentially dangerous items.

With that said, let’s get eco-crafting!

Continue reading 4 exciting upcycling ideas for kids

How to report littering in Leeds & Yorkshire

It is estimated that 2 million pieces of litter are dropped daily across the UK; a shocking statistic when you consider the size of our island and the number of people who must be dropping that litter.

Litter is unsightly, but that isn’t the only issue; it is also terrible for the environment.

Being a crime, littering can be reported in the UK so, in this blog post, we will explore what litter is, what the fine is for dropping it, and how you can report incidents of littering in your local area.

Firstly, let’s begin with the basics.

Continue reading How to report littering in Leeds & Yorkshire