We encourage everyone to live eco-friendlier. If you think about it, it’s not too hard, it just takes some getting used to. One of the easiest things to do is to recycle waste (which is especially easy in our student accommodations, since there’s a recycling room in every one of them). You might think that one person’s waste doesn’t make any difference, but it actually does – just by recycling a single newspaper, one saves enough energy to brew 38 cups of coffee!
Here are some examples of what to put in the different bins in your recycling room and reasons why you should put stuff in them at all!
Cardboard and paper packaging
Milk cartons, cereal boxes, toilet paper rolls, shoe boxes.
Why you should recycle it: For every tonne of paper or cardboard recycled, 14 trees are saved.
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Light bulbs
Light bulbs, low energy light bulbs, fluorescent tubes.
Why you should recycle it: If all light bulbs were recycled, nature would be spared 14 tonnes of lead every year.
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Batteries
Batteries
Why you should recycle it: Batteries contain dangerous substances which are harmful to people, animals and nature. In many Swedish lakes, fish contain high levels of mercury caused by, amongst other things, unrecycled batteries.
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Steel packaging
Aluminum cans, aluminum bottle caps, aluminum foil, tea light candle cups.
Why you should recycle it: Metals can be recycled an infinite number of times. Recycling aluminum saves 95% of the energy needed to make new aluminum cans. And, a single recycled aluminum can save enough energy to power a TV for up to seven hours! Netflix marathon!
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Colored glass
Green or brown glass jars or bottles
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Clear glass
Clear glass jars or bottles
Why you should recycle it: Glass can be recycled an unlimited number of times, without loss of quality. The glass is turned into new glass bottles.
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Also, don’t forget to recycle your plastic packaging – plastic take 450 years to decompose in nature.
Leave bulky or hazardous waste (broken furniture, frying pans, chemicals, paint etc) at the local recycling center and outdated medicines to your nearest pharmacy.
Happy sorting!
