This blog was originally based on a course ran by Professor Nick Gray of the Trinity Centre for the Environment at Trinity College Dublin who also wrote a textbook for the module Facing up to global warming: What is going on and what you can do about it. Now working as an independent consultant, Nick continues to work in the area of environmental sustainability and looking at ways of making a difference without recriminations or guilt. Saving the planet is all about living sustainably.


Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Waste Storage Efficiency


I feel that improvement should be given on the recycling of household plastic and metal materials such as bottles, cans, etc. A problem with storing these materials for appropriate recycling is that they take up a lot of space in the home if not compressed properly, thus the containers they are kept in can overflow very easily, which not only discourages people from maintaining them for recycling, but also, for many, results in frequent visits to the recycling units.

Compression of recyclable material would allow more to be stored efficiently

However, if households were to contain a small yet strong compressor for these materials in order to flatten them completely, more of them can be stored between recycles. The amount of carbon emissions which would go into making these handy compressors would thus be returned by the increase in waste material recycled appropriately and the reduction of recycling trips required. This means that excess material would no longer have to be inappropriately discarded until enough space has been freed-up to dispose of them properly.

Sarah Malone

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