As a fact of life, most items we buy will eventually end up as waste - something we will want to throw away. It is important that we all take responsibility for the waste that we produce because landfill space is filling up rapidly and the raw materials that we make things out of are running out. We can all help to tackle the problem by REDUCING how much we have to throw away whilst REUSING and RECYCLING more of our waste items.

On average, a Bristol resident will generate about 440kg of waste every year and in 2007 Bristol households produced 180,000 tonnes of waste cumulatively. It seems a mind-bogglingly large figure but the good news you get your head around is 37% of that waste was recycled. Bristol is one of the most successful cities in the UK when it comes to recycling due to various schemes introduced by the Council over the last few years.

There is still a huge amount of wok to be done though, as at the moment most of our waste still ends up in a landfill site. Through the use of black boxes, kitchen waste bins, cardboard collections, garden waste bins and recycling centres for plastic, residents of Bristol have the facilities and potential to currently each recycle 70% of their waste.

It’s difficult to approach a subject like this without getting preachy but the fact is the facilities are in place so the momentum to recycle now falls on the individual, changing your habits and those of the people around you to recycle more of your waste.

Bristol City Council are currently trying to encourage the individual to recycle more with the creation of a DVD mainly aimed at tenants and students who are new to the city, elderly residents and those for whom English may not be their first language. The new DVD demonstrates the recycling facilities available in Bristol and will be used by community and residents groups as part of an ongoing educational campaign and features a cameo from SY’s very own editor! Let’s get recycling!

Watch the DVD online at:

www.bristol.gov.uk/recycling