Here at Shades of Green, we receive messages on an almost daily basis about how to recycle certain items and we really love it. You’re keeping us on our toes and getting our green brains to work that much faster, so thank you for that.
So far, Tamara has shown you how to recycle all that you can through kerbside recycling or at the various recycling banks across Portsmouth and she’s even improved on that in a blog about items that take a little more effort to recycle.
This month I (Emma) am jumping on her recycling bandwagon and showing you how to recycle some of the most unrecyclable items that I’ve found in my home.
Elastic Bands
Dear Posties of Portsmouth, why you gotta keep dropping elastic bands on the pavement? Uncool.
If you want to get rid of a surplus of elastic bands, you could donate them to your local library (as my dad does), schools, or any other underfunded community group that needs to do admin work. It’s not recycling, but it is reusing and that’s much better.
Bonus points awarded for picking up elastic bands you find on the street or asking your postie not to drop them on the floor.
Pringles Cans (other brands are available)
I definitely eat waaaaaay more Pringles than the average person. This used to make me feel bad because the cans can’t be recycled… Or can they?!
Shocker! The majority of the Pringles can is recyclable if you’re prepared to do a little work. Want to learn how? Check out this video!
The only thing that I would add is that you need to just use your fingernails to pull the non-recyclable inner lining of the Pringles tube away from the cardboard. It’s a bit like finding the end on a roll of tape.
The metal bottom and the cardboard goes in your kerbside recycling, the plastic top goes in the plastic recycling skip at Sainsbury’s, and the only thing to go into the bin in the silvery plastic-paper-foil covering inside the can.
Pens
Milton Cross School has recently launched a pen recycling scheme in conjunction with TerraCycle, a recycling company that we’ve spoken about a few times on this blog.
Milton Cross will be collecting all kinds of writing implements for recycling, except for pencils and crayons. This includes:
- Any brand of pen
- Felt tips
- Highlighters
- Tippex Pots
- Mechanical Pencils
- Eraser Pens
Deborah Mason at Milton Cross said that it’s part of the school’s drive to be more environmentally friendly. She said the school sees a lot of waste and they wanted to reduce this while also teaching the students how to be greener. The money raised will be donated to the Lord Mayor’s Charity.
If you want to recycle your pens with Milton Cross, you can drop the recycling off in their secure lobby and they are looking into getting collection points in other parts of the city.
Now, I’d like to hear from you. How do you feel about being able to recycle these items? Are there any other items that you would like to see Shade of Green attempt to recycle? Let us know in the comments and we may feature it in our next blog.
Julian says:
My understanding is that the elastic bands posties use now are biodegradable.
May 31, 2018 — 6:47 pm
emma says:
Hi Julian,
Thanks for your comment.
I’ve had a look online and on Wikipedia it does say that the red elastic bands are more biodegradable than the brown ones. However, it didn’t cite an outside source or explain how fast they biodegrade. Do you happen to have more info on that?
Even if the red ones are more biodegradable, it’s still not great that they’re being left on the streets. Not only is it a waste of materials, but its also bad for animals who can eat them/get tangled up in them etc.
See this site (https://thehedgehog.co.uk/how-to-help-hedgehogs/dangers/royal-mail-discarded-elastic-bands) for more info and some pretty sad photos.
Plus, I never see my postie with red elastic bands – the brown ones are still littering my street. Let me know if you have a different experience – perhaps my street is waaay behind the times.
Best,
Emma (and Tamara)
June 1, 2018 — 1:55 pm
Helen says:
Great to see about the pens – surely every home / office has a few old ones lying around! Fingers crossed they can get some more publicity and it will gain momentum. I have recently started using TerraCycle’s personal care products programme and it has been a good experience so far. The added bonus for me is that the Eastney fruit and veg shop is a UPS drop off point, so it encourages me to do some local shopping at the same time!
June 1, 2018 — 12:58 pm
emma says:
Hi Helen,
I’m really glad about the pen recycling too – I have a drawer full that I didn’t want to throw out and it’s been really irritating for the people that I live with when they need to find a working pen 🙂
I’ve signed up to be a collection point for TerraCycle and I’m just waiting to hear back *fingers crossed*. But thanks for letting me know about the collection point in Eastney – I’ll make sure to check it out.
Hopefully, it can go in the next edition of recycling the unrecyclable 🙂
Best,
Emma (and Tamara)
June 1, 2018 — 2:06 pm
Helen says:
Please do let us know if you do become a collection point for any items! At the moment I box it up, print off the label and drop it off to be sent in. I noticed that there is someone on the map for the baby food pouches but that’s not one that applies to me! It would be great to see more publicity in the general local news about this type of thing, for example if a local charity got involved and set up a collection point as an extra way to raise funds – loads of charities seem have coffee mornings and such like and could put the biscuit wrappers to good use as well! The Portsmouth News does seem to be getting a bit more vocal behind certain campaigns recently, but I am not sure how receptive they are to suggestions… Sad about the elastic bands and hedgehogs 🙁
June 1, 2018 — 4:39 pm
emma says:
Hi Helen,
I’ll certainly let you know.
And yes, it would be great to see it get more publicity. The Star and Crescent is often a good place to start, but I recommend writing an email to whichever Portsmouth News journalist is in charge of eco issues – as a journalist, I love getting tips from others 🙂
Also, the hedgehog pictures are very upsetting. And I hope that we can do something about it.
Best,
Emma (and Tamara)
June 4, 2018 — 9:01 am
Tim's Emma says:
Hi Tamara and Emma
Can I recycle the plastic bags that catalogue clothes come in? They have the recycling triangle but are covered in gummy strips and labels and even the ones that don’t I’m not sure where to take them?
October 22, 2018 — 6:51 pm
Editor says:
Hiya Emma,
Thanks for your questions and huge apologies for the delay in responding.
This is going to sound like a silly follow-up question – but which recycling triangle is on the packaging? The reason I ask is that some of the symbols like the Mobius loop indicate that the product is capable of being recycled, so doesn’t guarantee that there are actually facilities to recycle them.
I’ve been looking into the plastic packaging and film recycling that can go into the carrier bag collection banks found at many supermarkets and if you remove the gummy strips and labels, you should be able to recycle it. Check https://www.recyclenow.com/what-to-do-with/plastic-film for a list of what can be recycled at the carrier bag collections. Off the top of my head, Waitrose in Marmion Road, the big Fratton Tescos and the two big Sainsburys have carrier bag collection points. The collection banks are found inside the stores.
Hope that helps!
Best,
Tamara (and Emma)
October 29, 2018 — 8:29 am
Tim's Emma says:
Hello again
I checked out Asda bridge centre paper banks and they now say no shredded paper. I checked with the council about doorstep recycling and they won’t take shredded paper in any guise, but they will take small pieces of paper like receipts if they are in an envelope marked paper. So that’s some good news 🙂
October 26, 2018 — 7:29 pm
Editor says:
Hi Emma,
Yes, I need to update the post re. the shredded paper – I noticed that recently as well.
I had a look on Recycle Now and annoyingly it still shows Asda Bridge Centre as accepting shredded paper. The only other one in Pompey (according to Recycle Now) is the big Sainsburys on Fitzherbert Road. I wonder if that is actually correct? I will check when I am next there doing a mixed plastics recycling run and let you know.
Another fab use for shredded paper is to whack it into a compost bin. It acts as ‘browns’. If you don’t have a compost bin you can find a local person via Share Waste (https://sharewaste.com/) who will accept your compostables and they may take your shredded paper.
It is good news about the receipts. Did they mention the BPA coating on receipts? I’d be curious to know if any kind of receipt can go in the recycling or if it has to be BPA free. Wild Thyme on Palmerston Road is the only store that I have noticed who use BPA free receipts.
Hmmm, I feel an email to PCC re. receipts and to Recycle Now re. their incorrect data coming on!
Thanks,
Tamara (and Emma)
October 29, 2018 — 8:43 am
Editor says:
P.S. Emma also mentioned to me that shredded paper can be donated to the Stubbington Ark for animal bedding.
Best,
Tamara (and Emma!)
October 29, 2018 — 4:51 pm
Tim's Emma says:
Hi again Emma and Tamara
Most of my current bags are “04 PE” apart from a “PP recyclable” which looks a bit dodgy. I took some to the marmion road Waitrose and they have moved their bags and film bin to behind the tills. I had to ask what had happened to it! (No mention of what triangles they take on it)
A friend has put her shredded paper in an envelope with recycling for years, so I emailed pcc asking if they would take shredded paper and receipts in an envelope marked paper left on top of my bin like electricals, as I was concerned that if put inside the bin their machines would chew it / get jammed. They replied that they couldn’t take shredded paper at all, but receipts in envelope in bin would be fine. No mention of bpa
I wondered about uses for shredded paper, but am unsure if inks toxic? I pass stubbington ark shop at least once a week, so I’ll ask in there.
Tim’s Emma
October 31, 2018 — 7:17 pm
Editor says:
Hi Emma,
Huh, I am curious as to why Waitrose have moved the stretchy plastics and film recycling bank. Surely that will make it more difficult for people to recycle! I feel another email coming on!
Reading your comment, I remember a talk by PCC waste management staff Colette Hill at Zero Waste Portsmouth and I do recall her saying that receipts are ok in an envelope to be recycled. Thanks for the reminder. I will hunt out the minutes from that talk as a refresher.
Emma said that Stubbington Ark do take shredded paper so it would be good to hear what they say when you pass by.
Thanks!
Tamara (and Emma)
November 6, 2018 — 7:41 pm