Share the Love of Recycling this Valentine’s Day
It’s the most romantic day of the year, but Valentine’s Day should be just as much about loving the planet!
Perfume and Aftershave Bottles
If you’ve received a bottle of perfume or aftershave for Valentine’s Day, remember that you can recycle the bottle when it’s empty so that it can be turned into a new bottle or jar. Just pop it in your blue bin.
Did you know that glass can be transformed into many different products like new perfume and champagne bottles for next year’s Valentine’s Day?
Tip: Beer bottles and cans can go into the blue bin and remember to keep the lid on any screwtop wine bottles, but remove the cork. If it’s a real cork rather than a plastic one, you can also put it in your brown bin.
Flowers
Once your flowers are past their best, there’s a couple of options for disposing of them. Firstly, you could dry them and use them for a meaningful home decoration, or dry just the petals for use as confetti or in a craft project. Secondly, you can put them in your garden waste bin for collection so they can go on to be made into compost.
Cards and gifts
You can recycle gift wrap providing it doesn’t have glitter or foil on it. A good rule of thumb is that if you scrunch wrapping paper up into a ball and it retains its shape, you can recycle it in your blue bin! If it springs back, it should go into your black bin.
Tip: Received an unwanted Valentine’s card? If it’s not one you want to keep and treasure, it’s safe to recycle as long as it’s not decorated with glitter or foil. Envelopes are good to go, too!
Food
Planning a romantic dinner at home? A homecooked meal made with love is a wonderful way to mark the occasion, whether with your other half or gathering together to celebrate with friends. Cooking your own meal also means you can easily recycle any food waste that’s left behind, from eggshells to potato peelings – just pop them in your brown bin.
If you want to minimise the time you spend in the kitchen, a takeaway is another great choice for Valentine’s Day. If you’re opting for a pizza, the cardboard box it came in can be recycled, as long as it’s not too soaked in grease. Remember to make sure it’s clear of leftover crusts before it goes in the recycling bin, and rinse out any plastic pots of garlic dip and recycle those too.
If your takeaway of choice is an Indian or Chinese, you’ll be pleased to hear that those plastic tubs and pots can be rinsed out and recycled as well. That’s if you don’t want to reuse them, of course for next week’s lunches or for storing food leftovers– keeping something in use is always the best solution!
If you’re not sure and want to check which bin it goes in, visit ‘What goes in my bin’.
