Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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When I started school, grown-ups used to joke about how I needed to learn my ‘Three Rs’, (Reading, ‘Riting and ‘Rithmetic) but these days any mention of the Three Rs will likely conjure up a different message: ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’. This is the 555th issue of Cleanzine and if you've read even a small number of our past issues, you’ll be aware of my passion for this new ‘Three Rs’ mantra.
While I refill and reuse 500ml drinks bottles, over the years I’ve committed hundreds of two litre bottles to the local recycling facility and have often wondered what they were going to be made into… I knew I wasn’t being eco-friendly buying drinks in plastic bottles but took some comfort in knowing that they would at least be put to good use after I’d finished with them – despite the environment-damaging process employed to recycle them.
My guilty conscience was appeased recently when researching the best way to top up the insulation in my loft and I discovered that one of the cheapest insulation rolls – and also one of the most effective as it had a higher thermal rating than anything else available – was made out of recycled plastic bottles. And it was a kind of double whammy too as the insulation prevents loss of heat from my home and thus reduces my negative impact on the environment! The product was easy to fit, did not require us to wear any protective clothing and as the recent snow remained on my roof long after it had melted on my neighbours’ roof, I know it’s doing the job.
I’ve lost more than a few minutes’ sleep though, wondering whether any of the bottles that I, personally, have recycled, are now part of that blanket of insulation helping keep my home warm!
Either way I feel I’ve achieved something – but not quite as much as Unilever, which announced last week that in 18 of the countries in which it manufactures, it does not send any waste at all to landfill. If you missed the story in last week’s issue and want to see how the company did it, you can access it here:
zero_waste_to_landfill_commitment
Zero waste – now that really is an achievement!
Please get in touch either by emailing me or posting a comment on our Facebook page. www.facebook.com/Cleanzine
Yours,
31st January 2013