Love your stuff - reuse your waste

13 Things you can do

  1. Swap It! Swap your computer games, clothes or other unwanted things with friends. You could even set up a Swap Shop at your school or in your community.
  2. Donate it! Organise a charity clothes collection in your school or community and see how much you can save from landfill to donate to your favourite charity.
  3. Up-cycle It! Get imaginative and use your artistic, practical or sewing skills to transform old clothes or furniture into the latest trends.
  4. Fix it! If something’s broken get it fixed rather than throwing it away. Re-sole your favourite shoes, darn your old socks, or put a new battery in your old watch.
  5. Bag it! Reuse old carrier bags when you go shopping or use them as packaging when boxing up things to store or post.
  6. Box it! Reuse packaging such as jam jars or ice-cream tubs to store food or to use as plant pots.
  7. Swish It! Organise an event where you and friends can swap clothes and accessories.
  8. Give It! Take your old stuff like books, clothes and brick-a-brac to a local charity shop.
  9. Buy it! Don’t forget to check out your local charity shops, car boots and jumble sales as well as online auction sites when you want to buy new things.
  10. Sell It! Get an adult to help you sell unwanted items at a car boot sale or on an online auction site.
  11. Recycle it! Take some electrical items to the household waste recycling centre (or another electrical item recycling point) – kettles, toasters, hairdryers, straighteners, electric shavers, power tools, laptops, chargers, radios and mobile phones etc. Encourage your family or carers to get a recycling bin in their kitchen
  12. Switch it! Switch to a reusable water bottle for school dinners and minimise disposable packaging
  13. Collect it! One last suggestion. Many schools already arrange a textile collection for old clothes, rags and other textiles to help raise funds for the school. You could check to see if your school does this. If it doesn’t, why not talk to your year or house tutor about arranging a collection from your school? This will reduce waste to landfill, help the environment and the charity, as well as raise money for your school.