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Reuse

Before we consider recycling an item we should look to see if we can reuse it. Many items can be reused - from carrier bags to clothes, glass jars to books, real (reusable) nappies to furniture reuse schemes.

The growth in popularity of websites where people can swap their unwanted items with others shows that people are thinking before throwing.

Freecycle
You can get your unwanted items reused with Freecycle. Just list them on your local Freecycle page and be prepared to give them to someone for free - they'll probably collect your item from where you live. Freecycle is also a great way of finding items you need that someone else would normally throw away.

Freegle
Don't throw it away, give it away! Freegle is an online community where users can either post up offers for people to take unwanted goods off their hands, or post up everyday items they're keen to make use of.

It's a national grassroots organisation for people who are giving and receiving free unwanted items in their immediate communities. Local charities, non-profit groups and communities are all encouraged to sign up.

The aim of the group is to keep anything reusable out of landfill sites. The basic principle behind the site is this - all offers and requests must be freegle i.e. free and legal (some groups may have additional guidelines).

Community Painting
Last year 380 million litres of paint (retail and trade) were sold in the UK. Of this, it is estimated that approximately 53 million litres are unused, stored in homes or garages or just thrown away. That's enough paint to fill 21 Olympic-sized swimming pools!

There are a number of community painting projects which make use of this unwanted paint. One such body is Community RePaint which provides a solution to this problem by providing an outlet for unwanted reusable paint while helping local communities and individuals.

In 2007 the Community RePaint national network:

  • saved 450,000 litres of paint, donated by householders and businesses, going to waste
  • with a market value of over £1.75 million
  • redistributed over 250,000 litres of paint to community groups, charities, voluntary organisations and people in social need.