Author: Lucy Ravenhall

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

Reduce food waste in your restaurant or café in just 10 easy steps

WRAP estimated that the UK created around 9.5 million tonnes of food waste in 2018, with 70 per cent of that total intended to be consumed by humans. This total doesn’t include the waste redistributed as animal feed or via charity and commercial routes.

While the 2018 figure was down from 10 million tonnes in 2015, I think we can all agree that action urgently needs to be taken to dramatically reduce the volume of food waste being created in this country.

Hospitality and food service contribute 12 per cent of the country’s total food wastage, which costs the sector approximately £682 million annually.

This blog post will explore why food waste in restaurants and cafes needs to be reduced and how that can be achieved.

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5 ways to recycle your spectacles

It’s estimated that 75 per cent of the population requires vision correction, with around 64 per cent of people choosing to wear glasses to correct their vision and 11 per cent opting for contact lenses — either solely or alongside eyeglasses.

With so many of us wearing spectacles and having annual eye tests, glasses can, unfortunately, become ineffectual for the individual they were made for within just one year.

Often made from metal or plastic, glasses can’t just be thrown in your household recycling bin, so many people are left wondering, ‘where can I recycle spectacles?’

You’d be amazed at how many pairs of old prescription glasses are lurking at the back of drawers in houses across the country.

So, in this article, we’ll take a look at where to recycle spectacles — whether it is prescription or reading glasses you need to dispose of.

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A quick guide to the litter problem in Cleethorpes

Like most beach resorts across the UK, Cleethorpes is, unfortunately, no stranger to litter — especially on hot days when people head to the beach in their thousands.

It’s no wonder people flock to Cleethorpes beach when the sun makes an appearance, though — it’s beautiful and award-winning, with The Trainline naming it the second-best beach in the UK in 2021 — ahead of Blackpool, Filey and Skegness.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the litter problem in Cleethorpes and why solving it is so vital to the area.

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8 clever ways to reuse plastic bottles

Back in 2019, we shared five reuse ideas for single-use plastic bottles on the blog, and a lot of you found it helpful.

Today, we are back with eight more clever ways to reuse your plastic bottles.

The bottles used for bottled water and other drinks are sadly intended to be single-use, so avoiding them altogether would be the best move for the environment.

However, we know that, realistically, a plastic bottle may be the only way for you to purchase your favourite drink on the go.

In which case, why not reuse the bottle when it’s empty and clean — giving it another lease of life, rather than sending it straight for recycling?

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What is domestic waste?

Domestic waste is any waste that is produced in the home environment.

Local authorities’ waste teams regularly collect the bulk of this, and additional household waste can be collected via one-off waste collections or skip hire.

Larger or extra domestic waste can also be taken to a local recycling centre for disposal.

This blog post will explore what domestic waste consists of and what happens to it after being collected from the nation’s homes.

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Five ridiculously easy ways to recycle your mobile phone

Whether you have a contract where the cost of your phone is included, or you buy a new phone when you need one, most of us end up in possession of mobile phones we don’t need anymore somewhere along the line.

Many handsets end up lurking in the back of kitchen drawers, where they get forgotten about until they are eventually chucked in the bin.

No mobile phone needs to end up in the bin though — most are 80 per cent recyclable.

In this article, we’ll outline all of the options available for mobile phone recycling.

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4 things you need to know about upcycling furniture

If you’ve recently been considering upcycling a piece of furniture, then this blog post will outline the reasons why you might want to, alongside four things you need to know before you get started.

Popular furniture pieces to upcycle are dining tables, chairs, cabinets, dressing tables, and footstools.

Upcycling furniture projects are a great idea for many reasons:

  • They’re beneficial for the environment because your upcycled piece of furniture replaces the need for a new piece to be manufactured.
  • They result in a bespoke, one-of-a-kind piece of furniture that nobody else owns.
  • They save you money.
  • You learn new skills in the process.
  • They’re easier than you might expect.
  • They’re fun!

Continue reading 4 things you need to know about upcycling furniture

Everything you need to know about the Great British Spring Clean

Over the past year, many people have connected with the great outdoors in a way they never have before; while living through national and local lockdowns, our outdoor spaces have been more important than ever to all of us.

Coming soon is the opportunity to give back to the environment that supported us all through the low times of the pandemic, while also benefiting your physical and mental health.

Introducing the Great British Spring Clean.

Continue reading Everything you need to know about the Great British Spring Clean

Hessle woman fined when someone fly-tipped her waste

Late last year, a woman who lives in Hessle received a fine of £200 from East Riding Council for fly-tipping; however, she didn’t fly-tip the waste herself.

In this blog post, we’re going to take a look at what happened, why the woman received a fine for the incident, and how you can avoid the same thing from happening to you if you need to dispose of waste and live in Hessle, Hull, or anywhere in the UK.

Continue reading Hessle woman fined when someone fly-tipped her waste