Recycle all those Christmas cards you recieved

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Recycle all those Christmas cards you recieved
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tinyclanger

Joined: 27 Dec 2004
Posts: 190
Location: in the kitchen, baking

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 12:54 pm Post subject: Recycle all those Christmas cards you recieved

Hi,
all those christmas cards that you recieved from family and friends....recycle them please. See the link below....
Did you know that one tonne of cards collected equals 16 trees!!

https://www.the-woodland-trust.org.uk/news/subindex.asp?aid=848

My friend Luci also sent me this today....

The Environment Agency on Wednesday 22 September 2004 presented a cheque for ï¿½200 to the Community Council of Staffordshire for their winning Action Earth project, involving Christmas card recycling.

3000 volunteers answered the call from the Council to all villages in the county to collect the cards for the benefit of the Woodland Trust Recycling Scheme.

Andrew Halden, leader of the project, said: "Villagers from all over Staffordshire helped collect and recycle the cards ï¿½ a magnificent achievement which we calculate will save 70 trees, 25,000 gallons of water, 16,000kwh of electricity and 90lbs of carbon dioxide emissions."
Making the presentation, Regional Director of the Environment Agency, Tony Dean, commented: "This was a real community effort. People from all over Staffordshire collected four tonnes of Christmas cards. This is four times the amount collected in 2001. If this is the impact of just one days collection of cards in one county, think how much of an impact we could make if we all recycled all our paper, all the year round."

.....which I thought you may find interesting.

Tiny

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 1:10 pm Post subject:
I think Tesco's have collection points for recycling Christmas cards. Loathe though I am to give them the oxygen of publicity.

tinyclanger

Joined: 27 Dec 2004
Posts: 190
Location: in the kitchen, baking

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 1:17 pm Post subject:
Yep, you can recycle your old Christmas cards by leaving them in the special recycling bins which will be in all WHSmith High Street stores and all Tesco stores across the UK throughout January. and don't forget that most supermarkets have other recycling faccilites as well. At least then we can use their stores for something worthwhile Tiny

Bugs

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 2:42 pm Post subject:
What with Cab's poster idea I've had a lot fewer cards to recycle this year. (Which smiley looks smug?) My sister makes cards and we've kept the last three years' from her and take them out to include in our decorations. I also removed the decorations from one birthday card she gave me and turned them in to a new birthday card for her the next year

culpepper

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 638
Location: Kent

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 5:50 pm Post subject:
I wonder if they can recycle the leftovers after I've cut all my cards up? Do they just recycle them by making more cards from them or do they make them into cardboard or something so dont care what state they are in?

Sarah D

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 2584

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 5:56 pm Post subject:
I suspect they make them into some kind of packaging, which then has to be recycled in its turn. Why not put the left overs on your compost heap, in a bean trench or directly on to the garden as a mulch, make as part of paper logs for the fire? I use the fronts of mine for entering postcard competitions, and do one or more of the above with the backs.

culpepper

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 638
Location: Kent

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 6:03 pm Post subject:

yes could try the compost thing.Im going to go through the bin tomorrow salvaging as much paper as possible for the compost. I recycle all the useable wrappings but this year I want to become more conservation minded. We watched the christmas lectures this morning and yesterday and its given us a bit of a kick up the pants re dire consequences if we dont start to be a bit more serious with the recycling thing.

tinyclanger

Joined: 27 Dec 2004
Posts: 190
Location: in the kitchen, baking

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 8:03 pm Post subject:

Hi,
the cards don't have to be whole ones as they will get all mushed up during the recycling process at the mill. The thing to remember is that by recycling the cards (and any other paper for that matter) the original pulp is being reused so that less virgin raw materials - wood, energy and water, are needed to make the paper products that will be the end result of the process. Aylesford Paper Mill in Kent takes nothing but recycled feed (newsprint, cards, junkmail office paper etc) and is one of the largest paper mills in europe, have a look at their website at https://www.aylesford-newsprint.co.uk/recycling.asp?id=6&id6=5
recycling reduces the amount of virgin raw materials needed to produce products that most of us use every day.This paper mill is where the majority of paper collected in the UK end up.
Tiny

Sarah D

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 2584

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 8:16 pm Post subject:
You could also mush them down with water in the liquidiser, make your own paper and turn it into next year's cards. This does work, but don't use a brand new liquidiser as the blade soon gets blunted. good fun, though, and it could go on for ever and ever.................

tinyclanger

Joined: 27 Dec 2004
Posts: 190
Location: in the kitchen, baking

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 8:29 pm Post subject:
Yeah, I have a friend who does papermaking days for kids, I save shredded paper from the recycling lorry for her so all the children get to make their own paper. Works really well and great fun too. Tiny

Sarah D

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 2584

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 8:34 pm Post subject:
You can dye your homemade paper with dyes made from dyestuffs growing in the garden - onion skins, elderberries, etc. Good, messy fun........ You could then go the whole hog and make your own ink as well, from oak galls, or homemade glue to stick other things on for decoration eg objets trouve - feathers, leaf skeletons, etc.

Bugs

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 8:43 pm Post subject:

No, no, Sarah, think before you speak

I've already spent this evening knitting my second (yes, just second as in other half of a pair

) mitten...and been reading a Country Smallholding article about willow growing and thinking hmmmm... near instant six foot fences to fox next door's half-abandoned labrador - andI could try making baskets from it

What with that and the soapmaking projects and tofu and maybe cheese and trying out my new cheesecloth making Greek yoghurt...the last thing I need is to start investigating plant dyes and paper making. Especially when I picked several of my RHS allocation on the grounds that they can be used for dye

You know not the possible consequences of your words

- I do have a job to fit in in the New Year, you know

Back to the subject...do you have the latest (I think latest) Suma catalogue? It has a v interesting description of the process they use to recyle their paper.

If I'm feeling awake tomorrow I might type it up for this thread.

mrutty

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1578

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 8:46 pm Post subject:
Becareful with the papers containing metals as they can leach into the soil an your veg. Best place for those is sadly the bin Pleased to say that we were able to save 3/5 of the Christmas waste. Some areas even have meat recycling has anyone any ideas on how?

Sarah D

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 2584

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 8:47 pm Post subject:
I don't have the altest one, as I'm not the one putting in the order at the moment, well, not until March, anyway. You haven't got time for a job, woman............... not now you are knitting!!

tinyclanger

Joined: 27 Dec 2004
Posts: 190
Location: in the kitchen, baking

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 04 9:00 pm Post subject:

Our council provide a kerbside foodwaste recycling service (as well as the usual dry recyclables) to householders. Works the same way as the normal kerbside ie you get a dry recycling box for paper, cans, glass, textiles, shoes, batteries and foil but you also get a foodwaste caddy for all the foodwaste you would otherwise chuck in the bin. The food waste goes into a container on the lorry, the other materials are seperated onto the lorry as well. The foodwaste goes to our local contractor for in-vessel composting, makes good quaility soil conditioner in approx. 4 days.
Because we get these services one a week we have hardly any residual waste left so refuse collections are now once a fortnight.
Any foodwaste can go in - meat, fish, bones, peelings, pasta etc because its composted in a sealed container at high temperature (74 degrees C) so fine under the DEFRA animal by-products order.
This is a new thing in our area but so far everyone seems keen about it and its going really well.
Tiny

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