October 22, 2024 • 16 mins
Welcome to Episode 78 of the Challenge to Change Podcast! In this exciting episode, we uncover some of the strange items found in recycling here in Cheshire East. Tune in for a surprising and informative journey into the world of recycling!
#ChallengeToChange #Recycling #CheshireEast #Sustainability
To watch the video version of this podcast episode, head to YouTube: https://youtu.be/7eA_XUy1ccU
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:10):
Hi there and welcome to theChallenge to Change podcast.
My name is Hazel and thispodcast is all about the
little changes we can all makethat will have a positive
effect upon planet Earth. Ifyou're new here, welcome. If
you've listened before,welcome back. The Challenge to
(00:33):
Change podcast has beenbrought to you on behalf of
ANSA Environmental Services.To find out more about ANSA,
please visit ANSA.co.uk. Let'sget into the podcast episode.
So welcome to episode 78 ofthe Challenge to Change
(00:55):
podcast. And I can't quitebelieve that we have reached
78 episodes already. Timecertainly does move swiftly,
doesn't it? If you haven'talready subscribed to the
podcast, it really does helpto grow the podcast by doing
so. And it also really helpsif you're able to share the
(01:16):
podcast or share individualepisodes. But more importantly
by sharing the podcast andsubscribing it does get those
planet friendly messages outthere into the wider world and
it also means that you won'tmiss an episode. So let's talk
about episode 78. 78. In thisepisode we're taking another
(01:38):
look at the unusual items wefind amongst the recycling
here in Cheshire East. Andthis is interesting regardless
of where you live in the worldbut it's especially
interesting if you live herein Cheshire East. So, in
Cheshire East you can recyclewhat we call the big five
(02:00):
items through your silverrecycling bin. These are
cardboard, paper, metal foodand drink cans, squashable
plastic and glass. You do needto make sure that your
recycling is clean and drybefore popping it into your
silver recycling bin. And lotsof keen recyclers here in
(02:25):
Cheshire East do exactly thatand course we're so grateful
to all the residents for doingtheir best to recycle. But
unfortunately mistakes happen.Let's find out what some of
the weird and not so wonderfulrecent items that have been
wrongly placed in CheshireEast recycled bins. But before
(02:49):
we do, it's worth remindingpeople that anything that ends
up in the recycle bin thatdoesn't belong in there is
classed as contamination.Let's start with a really
strange item that we recentlyfound in recycling and that
was an onion. Now the humbleonion is super useful in the
(03:13):
kitchen but it's really notuseful at all inside your
silver recycling bin. It isfood so here in Cheshire East
it can go into your gardenwaste bin if you subscribe to
the garden waste service. Itcan go in your home compost
bin if you home compost. Dolook online for ways to
(03:35):
correctly compost an onion ifyou're not already an expert
course. And if you don't homecompost and you don't
subscribe to the Garden WasteCollection service you can put
your unwanted onion in yourblack bin. So the humble onion
is pretty flexible isn't it towhere it can go when it
(03:58):
reaches the end of its lifebut it's not so flexible that
we can just pop it anywhere.It's also worth noting that
the onion in question, and ifyou're watching this episode
on YouTube you will be able tosee the onion that I'm
describing, this onionactually does look edible. It
(04:19):
was still inside the plasticnetting that it was obviously
purchased in and it looks likeit could have easily been
used. It was a complete onion,it hadn't gone mouldy, judging
by the picture, so yeah itcould have been used. If you
want to find out about foodwaste reduction recipes, it's
(04:40):
worthwhile visiting the LoveFood Hate Waste website. You
can also get food wastereduction recipes on the BBC
website as well, so it'sworthwhile looking those. It's
also actually worthwhilefollowing Anser on social
media because we often sharefood waste reduction recipes
(05:01):
on our social media channels.Just head over to social media
and search for AnserEnvironmental Services. Before
we move away from onions, ifyou're being really really
planet kind, it's worthwhilebuying your onions free from
packaging. So rather thanbuying them inside that
(05:22):
plastic netting, if you can,buy them packaging free. Now
of course that's not always anoption but where it is, it's
really worthwhile doing it.And when you've purchased your
onion, try and make sure thatyou use it up before it goes
off And when you've used it,pop that skin into your home
(05:44):
compost bin. So that would bea kind perfect approach to
dealing with the humble onion.So, moving away from that
much-discussed onion, we findourselves leading towards the
dark side of the force. Andyes, that was a Star Wars
reference because we recentlyfound Star Wars-themed trading
(06:07):
cards neatly tucked insideplastic collector's album
within the recycling at ourtransfer station. This, of
course, cannot go in yoursilver recycling bin. It is
possible to recycle theindividual cards if they're
made from card only. So ifthey don't have sparkly
(06:31):
material on there or they'renot coated in plastic, so if
they're purely made fromcardboard, yes you could pop
the individual cards in yourrecycle bin. However, it's
most likely the case thattrading cards of any kind
aren't just made fromcardboard, they probably do
have other materials. Theplastic collector's album as
(06:53):
well can't go into yourrecycle bin.
So what can you do with atrading card collector's
album? Well, you could donateit to a charity shop. You
could probably sell it online.I imagine lots of people would
(07:16):
be interested in something ofthat kind. You could sell it
at a car boot sale. You couldoffer it on a community
recycling app. If all of thosethings are not an option for
whatever reason, you could popit into your black household
waste bin here in CheshireEast as an absolute last
resort. As a misdirectedtestament to the beautiful
(07:40):
game, and yes by the beautifulgame I do mean football, We do
find lots of footballs inrecycling and again if you're
watching this episode onYouTube you'll see a picture
of some recent footballs thatwe found inside the recycling
at our transfer station.Finding footballs in recycling
(08:02):
does of course mean that lotsof people are playing football
in Cheshire East which isgreat but on the downside
footballs don't belong in yoursilver recycling bin. Yes they
are made from plastic but it'snot the type of plastic that
we can recycle through yoursilver bin recycling
collection service. Moreover,if the football in question is
(08:25):
in good condition wouldn't itbe better to donate it to a
charity shop, offer it on acommunity recycling app or you
can also take unwanted sportsgear to some sports retailers
so they take back old sportsgear so do have a look online
for options there. If all elsefails, an unwanted football
(08:50):
can be placed in your blackhousehold waste bin. Another
strange item that turns up inrecycling are children's toys.
And this always makes me feela little bit sad. And I am on
YouTube showing you an exampleof some of the toys that we
have recently found in therecycling on our transfer
(09:12):
station. But for thoselistening to the audio version
of this podcast I can confirmthat it's everything from
cuddly toys to children's bagsto stationery to tiny camping
chairs, you name it.Children's toys course are
made from a wide variety ofmaterials and it doesn't form
(09:33):
part of that big five itemsthat we've already described.
So what can we do withchildren's toys? Well there's
lots and lots of options. Thefirst I guess obvious one is
donating to a charity shop. Ifwe do that then we can make a
difference to somebody else.We can help the charity shop
in question, we can enablesomebody to purchase a toy for
(09:56):
far less than they would spendif buying new. So we can make
a difference in other people'slives by donating toys in this
way. So that's the first thingwe can do. We can also offer
toys on a community recyclingapp. There are many of them to
choose from and I'm going tolist a few now but I'm no
(10:17):
doubt there will be more. SoFreegal, Freecycle, Olio,
Gumtree or groups on Facebookbut it's definitely worthwhile
looking to see there areothers. It's also worthwhile
looking at local communitygroups, that's physical
community groups in your area,especially as the festive
(10:38):
season approaches, which aswe're in mid-October, the
festive season is fastapproaching some community.
Groups will take toys for atoy drive for children. So
this tends to be toys that areas new or new. So if you have
some children's toys that arein basically near new
(11:01):
condition, it's worthwhiledonating them to a local
community group. course checkfirst before you do so.
Another option with children'stoys and in fact actually many
different items is to repairthose ones that have broken.
You can look on YouTube orperhaps Pinterest for DIY
(11:21):
inspiration. You can look tosee if there is a repair cafe
in your local area. Before wemove on from children's toys,
it is worth noting that if youhave children's toys that
absolutely cannot be repaired,you don't have any other
options to donate them or givethem away, you can put
(11:41):
children's toys in your blackhousehold waste bin as a last
resort. But please don't putchildren's toys that contain
batteries in your bin of anykind actually. We don't want
Anything that containsbatteries in any bin. For
options for items that containbatteries visit the Recycle
(12:04):
Your Electricals website ifyou live here in the UK. If
you live outside the UK it'sworthwhile checking your
search engine or maybe askingon an AI app for options to
recycle items that containbatteries. So finally let's
find out about our otherunusual item that often finds
(12:25):
itself amongst the recyclingand that's carpets and rugs.
So unwanted carpets cannot beplaced in your silver
recycling bin however they canbe repurposed in garden or a
shed they can be offered on acommunity recycling app If you
can't do any of those thingswith your unwanted carpet then
(12:49):
it can be taken to a householdwaste recycling centre. Before
we talk about rugs, I do wantto make personal note here
that many, many years ago Ihad a DIY eco-wedding and we
used carpets that we obtainedthrough a community recycling
(13:12):
app and we needed carpets forthe outside area to kind make
the gazebo area look a littlebit more attractive. So we got
A number of carpets through acommunity recycling app, we
cleaned them, we used them forthe wedding and then we
re-offered them and gave themaway on that same community
recycling app after thewedding. So there is a real
(13:34):
life example of An unwantedcarpet being reused and then
passed on and reused again soit really is worthwhile doing.
So rugs then, you can't putrugs in your silver recycling
bin. If the rug is in goodclean condition you can donate
to a charity shop and ofcourse you can offer it on a
(13:57):
community recycling app and aswith carpets you can also
repurpose in a garden or ashed. If you have a small rug
and you can't do any of thosethings with your unwanted rug,
you can pop it in your blackhousehold waste bin. For a
larger rug or a heavier rugthen unfortunately it would
(14:19):
need to go to a householdwaste recycling centre. So
there you have it, quite amotley crew of items but the
main theme is clear. If you'repopping it in your silver
recycling bin here in CheshireEast it must be part of that
big five that we described atthe beginning of this podcast
(14:41):
episode. If it doesn't fallunder those categories and
unfortunately it cannot go inyour silver recycling bin. But
as we've discovered there aremany ways to recycle the
things that we no longer want.There's so many different
options to make a differenceto planet Earth. Before I
close this podcast episodeit's worthwhile reminding
(15:05):
people that if you live herein Cheshire East Your
recycling does need to beloose inside your silver
recycling bin. So that meansdon't place your recycling in
a bag and then tie the bag upand in fact don't place your
recycling in a bag at all. Youcan tip your recycling in
straight from your kitchenrecycling bin or you can pop
(15:28):
the items in directly to yoursilver recycling bin. So with
that being said, I think weare now coming to a close for
this podcast episode.If you've watched this episode
(15:56):
on YouTube, I hope you'veenjoyed it. I hope you've
enjoyed seeing those unusualitems of contamination that we
have found in the recyclingrecently. And if you have
listened as usual to the audioversion, I hope you have
enjoyed listening. So thankyou so much for being with me
(16:17):
today and I will of coursereturn for another episode
really soon. Bye for now.
Hi there and welcome to theChallenge to Change podcast.
My name is Hazel and thispodcast is all about the
little changes we can all makethat will have a positive
effect upon planet Earth. Ifyou're new here, welcome. If
you've listened before,welcome back. The Challenge to
(00:33):
Change podcast has beenbrought to you on behalf of
ANSA Environmental Services.To find out more about ANSA,
please visit ANSA.co.uk. Let'sget into the podcast episode.
So welcome to episode 78 ofthe Challenge to Change
(00:55):
podcast. And I can't quitebelieve that we have reached
78 episodes already. Timecertainly does move swiftly,
doesn't it? If you haven'talready subscribed to the
podcast, it really does helpto grow the podcast by doing
so. And it also really helpsif you're able to share the
(01:16):
podcast or share individualepisodes. But more importantly
by sharing the podcast andsubscribing it does get those
planet friendly messages outthere into the wider world and
it also means that you won'tmiss an episode. So let's talk
about episode 78. 78. In thisepisode we're taking another
(01:38):
look at the unusual items wefind amongst the recycling
here in Cheshire East. Andthis is interesting regardless
of where you live in the worldbut it's especially
interesting if you live herein Cheshire East. So, in
Cheshire East you can recyclewhat we call the big five
(02:00):
items through your silverrecycling bin. These are
cardboard, paper, metal foodand drink cans, squashable
plastic and glass. You do needto make sure that your
recycling is clean and drybefore popping it into your
silver recycling bin. And lotsof keen recyclers here in
(02:25):
Cheshire East do exactly thatand course we're so grateful
to all the residents for doingtheir best to recycle. But
unfortunately mistakes happen.Let's find out what some of
the weird and not so wonderfulrecent items that have been
wrongly placed in CheshireEast recycled bins. But before
(02:49):
we do, it's worth remindingpeople that anything that ends
up in the recycle bin thatdoesn't belong in there is
classed as contamination.Let's start with a really
strange item that we recentlyfound in recycling and that
was an onion. Now the humbleonion is super useful in the
(03:13):
kitchen but it's really notuseful at all inside your
silver recycling bin. It isfood so here in Cheshire East
it can go into your gardenwaste bin if you subscribe to
the garden waste service. Itcan go in your home compost
bin if you home compost. Dolook online for ways to
(03:35):
correctly compost an onion ifyou're not already an expert
course. And if you don't homecompost and you don't
subscribe to the Garden WasteCollection service you can put
your unwanted onion in yourblack bin. So the humble onion
is pretty flexible isn't it towhere it can go when it
(03:58):
reaches the end of its lifebut it's not so flexible that
we can just pop it anywhere.It's also worth noting that
the onion in question, and ifyou're watching this episode
on YouTube you will be able tosee the onion that I'm
describing, this onionactually does look edible. It
(04:19):
was still inside the plasticnetting that it was obviously
purchased in and it looks likeit could have easily been
used. It was a complete onion,it hadn't gone mouldy, judging
by the picture, so yeah itcould have been used. If you
want to find out about foodwaste reduction recipes, it's
(04:40):
worthwhile visiting the LoveFood Hate Waste website. You
can also get food wastereduction recipes on the BBC
website as well, so it'sworthwhile looking those. It's
also actually worthwhilefollowing Anser on social
media because we often sharefood waste reduction recipes
(05:01):
on our social media channels.Just head over to social media
and search for AnserEnvironmental Services. Before
we move away from onions, ifyou're being really really
planet kind, it's worthwhilebuying your onions free from
packaging. So rather thanbuying them inside that
(05:22):
plastic netting, if you can,buy them packaging free. Now
of course that's not always anoption but where it is, it's
really worthwhile doing it.And when you've purchased your
onion, try and make sure thatyou use it up before it goes
off And when you've used it,pop that skin into your home
(05:44):
compost bin. So that would bea kind perfect approach to
dealing with the humble onion.So, moving away from that
much-discussed onion, we findourselves leading towards the
dark side of the force. Andyes, that was a Star Wars
reference because we recentlyfound Star Wars-themed trading
(06:07):
cards neatly tucked insideplastic collector's album
within the recycling at ourtransfer station. This, of
course, cannot go in yoursilver recycling bin. It is
possible to recycle theindividual cards if they're
made from card only. So ifthey don't have sparkly
(06:31):
material on there or they'renot coated in plastic, so if
they're purely made fromcardboard, yes you could pop
the individual cards in yourrecycle bin. However, it's
most likely the case thattrading cards of any kind
aren't just made fromcardboard, they probably do
have other materials. Theplastic collector's album as
(06:53):
well can't go into yourrecycle bin.
So what can you do with atrading card collector's
album? Well, you could donateit to a charity shop. You
could probably sell it online.I imagine lots of people would
(07:16):
be interested in something ofthat kind. You could sell it
at a car boot sale. You couldoffer it on a community
recycling app. If all of thosethings are not an option for
whatever reason, you could popit into your black household
waste bin here in CheshireEast as an absolute last
resort. As a misdirectedtestament to the beautiful
(07:40):
game, and yes by the beautifulgame I do mean football, We do
find lots of footballs inrecycling and again if you're
watching this episode onYouTube you'll see a picture
of some recent footballs thatwe found inside the recycling
at our transfer station.Finding footballs in recycling
(08:02):
does of course mean that lotsof people are playing football
in Cheshire East which isgreat but on the downside
footballs don't belong in yoursilver recycling bin. Yes they
are made from plastic but it'snot the type of plastic that
we can recycle through yoursilver bin recycling
collection service. Moreover,if the football in question is
(08:25):
in good condition wouldn't itbe better to donate it to a
charity shop, offer it on acommunity recycling app or you
can also take unwanted sportsgear to some sports retailers
so they take back old sportsgear so do have a look online
for options there. If all elsefails, an unwanted football
(08:50):
can be placed in your blackhousehold waste bin. Another
strange item that turns up inrecycling are children's toys.
And this always makes me feela little bit sad. And I am on
YouTube showing you an exampleof some of the toys that we
have recently found in therecycling on our transfer
(09:12):
station. But for thoselistening to the audio version
of this podcast I can confirmthat it's everything from
cuddly toys to children's bagsto stationery to tiny camping
chairs, you name it.Children's toys course are
made from a wide variety ofmaterials and it doesn't form
(09:33):
part of that big five itemsthat we've already described.
So what can we do withchildren's toys? Well there's
lots and lots of options. Thefirst I guess obvious one is
donating to a charity shop. Ifwe do that then we can make a
difference to somebody else.We can help the charity shop
in question, we can enablesomebody to purchase a toy for
(09:56):
far less than they would spendif buying new. So we can make
a difference in other people'slives by donating toys in this
way. So that's the first thingwe can do. We can also offer
toys on a community recyclingapp. There are many of them to
choose from and I'm going tolist a few now but I'm no
(10:17):
doubt there will be more. SoFreegal, Freecycle, Olio,
Gumtree or groups on Facebookbut it's definitely worthwhile
looking to see there areothers. It's also worthwhile
looking at local communitygroups, that's physical
community groups in your area,especially as the festive
(10:38):
season approaches, which aswe're in mid-October, the
festive season is fastapproaching some community.
Groups will take toys for atoy drive for children. So
this tends to be toys that areas new or new. So if you have
some children's toys that arein basically near new
(11:01):
condition, it's worthwhiledonating them to a local
community group. course checkfirst before you do so.
Another option with children'stoys and in fact actually many
different items is to repairthose ones that have broken.
You can look on YouTube orperhaps Pinterest for DIY
(11:21):
inspiration. You can look tosee if there is a repair cafe
in your local area. Before wemove on from children's toys,
it is worth noting that if youhave children's toys that
absolutely cannot be repaired,you don't have any other
options to donate them or givethem away, you can put
(11:41):
children's toys in your blackhousehold waste bin as a last
resort. But please don't putchildren's toys that contain
batteries in your bin of anykind actually. We don't want
Anything that containsbatteries in any bin. For
options for items that containbatteries visit the Recycle
(12:04):
Your Electricals website ifyou live here in the UK. If
you live outside the UK it'sworthwhile checking your
search engine or maybe askingon an AI app for options to
recycle items that containbatteries. So finally let's
find out about our otherunusual item that often finds
(12:25):
itself amongst the recyclingand that's carpets and rugs.
So unwanted carpets cannot beplaced in your silver
recycling bin however they canbe repurposed in garden or a
shed they can be offered on acommunity recycling app If you
can't do any of those thingswith your unwanted carpet then
(12:49):
it can be taken to a householdwaste recycling centre. Before
we talk about rugs, I do wantto make personal note here
that many, many years ago Ihad a DIY eco-wedding and we
used carpets that we obtainedthrough a community recycling
(13:12):
app and we needed carpets forthe outside area to kind make
the gazebo area look a littlebit more attractive. So we got
A number of carpets through acommunity recycling app, we
cleaned them, we used them forthe wedding and then we
re-offered them and gave themaway on that same community
recycling app after thewedding. So there is a real
(13:34):
life example of An unwantedcarpet being reused and then
passed on and reused again soit really is worthwhile doing.
So rugs then, you can't putrugs in your silver recycling
bin. If the rug is in goodclean condition you can donate
to a charity shop and ofcourse you can offer it on a
(13:57):
community recycling app and aswith carpets you can also
repurpose in a garden or ashed. If you have a small rug
and you can't do any of thosethings with your unwanted rug,
you can pop it in your blackhousehold waste bin. For a
larger rug or a heavier rugthen unfortunately it would
(14:19):
need to go to a householdwaste recycling centre. So
there you have it, quite amotley crew of items but the
main theme is clear. If you'repopping it in your silver
recycling bin here in CheshireEast it must be part of that
big five that we described atthe beginning of this podcast
(14:41):
episode. If it doesn't fallunder those categories and
unfortunately it cannot go inyour silver recycling bin. But
as we've discovered there aremany ways to recycle the
things that we no longer want.There's so many different
options to make a differenceto planet Earth. Before I
close this podcast episodeit's worthwhile reminding
(15:05):
people that if you live herein Cheshire East Your
recycling does need to beloose inside your silver
recycling bin. So that meansdon't place your recycling in
a bag and then tie the bag upand in fact don't place your
recycling in a bag at all. Youcan tip your recycling in
straight from your kitchenrecycling bin or you can pop
(15:28):
the items in directly to yoursilver recycling bin. So with
that being said, I think weare now coming to a close for
this podcast episode.If you've watched this episode
(15:56):
on YouTube, I hope you'veenjoyed it. I hope you've
enjoyed seeing those unusualitems of contamination that we
have found in the recyclingrecently. And if you have
listened as usual to the audioversion, I hope you have
enjoyed listening. So thankyou so much for being with me
(16:17):
today and I will of coursereturn for another episode
really soon. Bye for now.
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