The kitchen is the heart of the home and often where we use and generate the most plastic waste. In fact, since its creation in 1907, plastic use has consumed much of the UK.
You’ll find plastic in many kitchen items, from single-use plastic packaging to plastic utensils, cling film, Tupperware, and plastic-infused tea bags.
In the UK, 82% of adults want to reduce the amount of single-use plastic they throw away. However, standing in a kitchen surrounded by plastic can feel overwhelming.
Each year, Plastic Free July encourages companies and individuals to analyse how much plastic they throw away. The campaign highlights the benefits of environmentally friendly packaging and reusable containers and prompts shoppers to reconsider their buying habits and purchase zero-waste products instead.
Continue reading Plastic Free July: Who produces the most plastic waste?
In a perfect world, all managers and employees would know how to reduce office waste, as well as the reasons why it’s important to do so.
Reducing office waste improves resource efficiency, cutting down on the cost of materials, and has a positive impact on the environment and on office waste management costs.
You may have heard the phrase ‘zero waste’ more of late.
Up and down the UK, consumers are seeking more eco-friendly ways to restock their everyday essentials – and this is where zero waste shops come in.
Continue reading How zero waste shops work: a beginner’s guide
Wearing your paper hat and sharing a festive-themed joke is a classic pastime around many a Christmas dinner table. Despite concerns around their impact on the environment, here in the UK, we pull over 154 million Christmas crackers each year, proving that the snap of the season is here to stay.
Yet there are ways to ensure our Christmas crackers are more eco-friendly. Recyclable and plastic-free crackers are now easy to find in stores and online, while many people have even taken to making their own eco-friendly Christmas crackers.
Take a look at Forge Recycling’s favourite eco alternatives to Christmas crackers for you to enjoy this merry season.
Continue reading Five eco-friendly Christmas cracker alternatives this festive season
As Christmas rolls around and we begin to dig out the box(es) of decorations, you may find yourself longing for a fresh festive look.
Continue reading Six zero-waste Christmas decorations to make at home
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.
Continue reading Reduce food waste in your restaurant or café in just 10 easy steps
Eco-friendly gifts are not just for Christmas. We give each other presents all year round for birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, Easter, and many more celebrations.
By choosing sustainable gifts and eco-friendly wrapping paper, you can make sure the presents you give your friends and family don’t have an adverse impact on the environment.
Here’s our ultimate guide to the best eco-friendly gifts for different occasions throughout the year and how you can give them in a more environmentally friendly way.
Continue reading The ultimate guide to eco-friendly gift giving
As the UK continues to emerge from the most severe phase of COVID-19 restrictions cautiously, it looks like festivals are back on the menu, along with other crowded events like full-capacity sporting fixtures, cinema and theatre.
But with large crowds comes lots of litter. Waste is an unfortunate inevitability of all major events.
Festival waste management is a particular challenge as there are often relatively few places to dispose of litter while the event is going on.
For a truly sustainable festival, you want to leave no waste behind.
This article will look at ways to host and attend a zero-waste festival, including how organisers can cope with waste clearance and how individuals can reduce the amount of rubbish they generate.
Helium balloons are a lot of fun, whether they’re bobbing on the end of a piece of string tied to a child’s wrist, or turning people’s voices squeaky at a grown-up party.
But balloons can be harmful to the environment and helium is a very, very limited resource – and we can’t make more of it.
If you’re concerned about protecting the environment, helium balloons are a definite no-no. In this article we’ll take a look at why, and list some of the environmentally friendly alternatives to balloon release and helium balloon decorations for your next party.
