Bathroom-ready recycling
Recycling in the bathroom is the next frontier
Your Challenge
Most of us keep our recycling bins or boxes in the kitchen, so it can easily slip our minds to recycle bathroom items. Instead of letting good quality recycling go in the bin, place a separate container or recycling bin in your bathroom to segregate your recycling from your rubbish. If you are short on space why not hang a bag on the back of your door or hide them in a basket in a draw or cupboard until its full.
There are a lot of bathroom items that can be recycled:
- Shampoo, conditioner and shower gel bottles (check your local council website first)
- Cardboard boxes for toothpaste and soap
- Toilet roll tubes
- Bathroom cleaner and bleach bottles (check your local council website first)
- Hand soap bottles (removing the pump dispenser)
- Moisturiser bottles
Things to avoid include:
- Cotton wool pads
- Toothpaste tubes
- Nappies
- Used tissues
- Make up items, especially those with a mirror
Why you're doing this
There are lots of products we regularly use in the bathroom that should go in the recycling, not the rubbish bin. Using a recycling bin (or a bin with two compartments: one for rubbish and one for recycling), or a recycling bag or basket helps us remember to recycle our bathroom items. This can reduce the amount of recycling we’re accidentally throwing away. For example, cardboard toothpaste boxes, are all widely recycled but commonly thrown into the bathroom rubbish bin without being recycled.
How you'll make a difference
If we all remember to recycle the right things from our bathroom, collectively we can all reduce the amount of rubbish being sent to landfill and improve the quality of recycling. For example, if everyone in the UK recycled one toothpaste box instead of throwing it in the rubbish bin, it’s estimated this would save enough energy to run a fridge in over 2,000 homes for a year. [1]
Track your progress
in the My Footprint App
Track your progress and discover many more challenges in the My Footprint app. Available for iOS and Android devices.
