RECYCLE

I have reached my seventh posting on this blog before advising you to Recycle. If this is the first time that you have logged on to this site, please check what I have said before - you will then understand why recycling should not be the first priority for people attempting to reduce the size of our carbon footprints, but almost the last. It comes after we have exercised our choice to Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, but at the end of each week we will all have some "rubbish" to dispose of. If it can be recycled, it is best, for the future of the planet, to find the most efficient way of recycling it.

There are lots of myths about recycling. I think that potentially the most damaging myth is that "the bottom has dropped out of the recycling market, so don't bother."

The truth is that recycling has never been a commercial business. If it was, it would earn money for local authorities, rather than forming part of the valuable, but costly, refuse service.

The Birmingham City Council website has a useful A - Z of recycling.

Paper and card from Birmingham's blue box collection is processed for re-use within Birmingham (in Nechells), and the tins, cans and bottles from Birmingham's green box collection is currently taken to a "Materials Recovery Facility" in Essex, but not for much longer as a new MRF will soon be opened in Wolverhampton.

Birmingham's recycling website also gives advice on where to send items that can be reused instead of being recycled.

In case you need persuading, or reminding, that the future of life on this planet depends on you (and me) taking action, take a short break sometime soon and watch Leo Murray's 11 minute film "Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip" .

Enjoy the festive season, recharge your personal energy supplies and your motivation to take action. We can and will make a difference to the future of the planet if we all begin to walk with lighter footprints.