Let go of unwanted gadgets! 17 June 2010
- Recycle Now campaign tackles emotional barriers to recycling- Competition running at five Household Waste Recycling Centres on Merseyside
Our modern reliance on electrical goods and the emotional bonds we form with them are preventing people from recycling unused items, according to new research launched ahead of Recycle Week, 21-27 June.
Many of these much-loved items (such as mobile phones and hairdryers) could be put to good use by someone else, or be broken down into components: recycling the valuable materials to help preserve natural resources.
To mark the sixth annual Recycle Week, Recycle Now and the Merseyside Waste Partnership are encouraging us to recycle more with a competition at five of the region’s Household Waste Recycling Centres.
During Recycle Week (21-27 June) residents who bring recyclable items to one of five designated competition Recycling Centres below can enter a prize draw to win an Eco Kettle or a Roberts DAB clock radio with iPod dock. All they have to do is deposit their unwanted item/s in the on-site container and fill in their details on a competition-form which they can get from site staff. The form should be handed back in at the site.
The competition Recycling Centres are:
Clatterbridge – Mount Road, Bebington CH63 6JE
Huyton – Ellis Ashton Street, Huyton Industrial Estate L36 3AR
Otterspool – Jericho Lane, Liverpool L17 5AR
Ravenhead – Burtonhead Road, St Helens WA9 5EA
South Sefton – Irlam Road, Bootle L20 4AE
Merseyside has 14 Recycling Centres, which all accept electrical items, and all Centres are managed by Veolia Environmental Services.
Residents can also enter the competition via www.merseysidewda.gov.uk.
Carl Beer, Director of Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority, said: “The aim of this Recycle Week is to encourage us all to think about the many, easy ways we can waste less and make more of the resources we have. There are now more ways than ever to give your electricals a new lease of life.”
Alex Paterson, General Manager at Veolia Environmental Services, said: ‘National Recycle Week is widely supported up and down the country and is an initiative that we are fully in support of. It provides our site users with an incentive to dispose of those unused electrical items that are tucked away in our drawers and cupboards. We also hope the week shows members of the public how easy it is to recycle unwanted items and for them to adopt the same outlook to all aspects of recycling on an ongoing basis.’
More than a third (37%) of us say we would feel better if we could donate or recycle our unused small electrical goods.
Many of us continue to hang on to small electricals when we no longer have a use for them, whether they are broken or have been replaced with the latest model. Respondents admitted keeping their unused electrical items for both sentimental and practical reasons:
40% feel too sad to part with an item they no longer use
41% hoped the item might come in handy some day, or that they might be able to pass them on to someone
23% feel that small electrical items seem too valuable just to throw away
29% hang on to them because they are not sure what to do with them
Psychologist Linda Blair explains the motivations behind the emotional barriers to recycling: “We value our electrical items because they make life easier and because so many of them connect us to the wider social world, either practically or because of the memories associated with them.
“Even when we no longer use them, we may be reluctant to let them go for a mixture of rational and sentimental reasons. A key factor is the sense of connection, control and safety these items give us. The attachment is similar to an infant needing a teddy, or a comfort blanket.
“This explains why we can end up having tantrums when the items break down, and why some of them end up accompanying us everywhere, having their place at meals and by the bed for example.”
If your old electrical item can still switch on, why not donate it at your local British Heart Foundation store and you will also be helping to raise money for charity, visit www.bhf.org.uk to find your nearest shop.
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