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Last updated 1 December 2009

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Garden tools

See Tools.

Garden waste

• See Compost.

• Logs & branches - store as firewood and kindling for log fires and BBQs (or give firewood to a neighbour/friend).

• Log piles - provide a wildlife habitat in the garden to help preserve wildlife.

• Leaves - use for leaf mould (put leaves in bin bag with small holes, or in a chicken wire cage for a year, then sprinkle on the garden to improve soil).

• Save for Charlbury's monthly green waste collection or Finstock's bimonthly garden waste collection.

• Don't let your apples and pears go to waste, contact Charlbury Sharecroppers to pick and redistribute them - other people will love them. They can also make the windfalls into cider.

 • Take to Dean Waste Recycling Centre.

• WODC Green Waste Scheme (01993-861020) You can join the scheme and pay £51 from 11 May 2009 until 24 September 2010 (the price reduces the later you join the scheme) you will be given a green-top bin which will be emptied of garden waste from outside your home every two weeks throughout the year.

Glass - sheet glass

• Take lightbulbs and fluorescent tubes to WRC for recycling.  Dead lightbulbs can also be brought along to a Charlbury Bring & Take event and put in the box provided.

• Waste Recycling Centres now accept sheet glass in the rubble skips - material is smashed up and used for hardcore.

Glass bottles & jars

Recycling 1 tonne of glass saves 12 tonnes of raw material.

• Contact your local Women's Institute as they often re-use jars for jam and chutney making.

• Rinse out and put in your black box.

• Take to your local recycling bank at Spendlove or Dean.

• Heat resistant glass (Pyrex) melts at a different temperature to bottles and jars so must not be put in the glass skips.

Glasses

• See Spectacles.

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Hair dryers

• See Electrical Equipment.

Hazardous waste

• Try to avoid buying hazardous chemicals - these can kill wildlife and can be dangerous to pets and children (consider organic gardening - is it so important to have an immaculate weed-free lawn?).

• Hazardous waste includes pesticides, insecticides, garden chemicals, unusable solvent-based paint, paint over 10 years old, paint strippers, varnishes, wood stains/preservatives, sealants/glues, car care products, pharmaceuticals, photographic chemicals, aerosols, and batteries - these can all be taken to Dean and put into the appropriate containers - ask the staff there for advice.

• For people without a car who cannot get to the Waste Centre at Dean, Oxfordshire County Council provides a free collection service from the house. Call 08450-504550 for further information.

 • Asbestos can be wrapped securely in polythene and taken to Redbridge (phone 01865-721464 beforehand).

• Unwanted medicine - take to your local pharmacy for safe disposal (the local chemist in Charlbury is the Co-Op Pharmacy in Market Street).

• Sharps (hypodermic needles) - take yours in sealed containers to your local doctor or to the Co-Op Pharmacy, Market Street, Charlbury. If you find other people's needles do not touch - call WODC (01993 861020) to report clinical waste. 

House clearance

• See Bric-a-brac.

• See Electrical Equipment.

• See Furniture.

• See Textiles .

• See Tools.

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Ink-jet cartridges

• See Cartridges.

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Jam jars

• See Glass.

Jewellery

• Donate old or unwanted jewellery to a charity shop.

• Save for a Charlbury "Bring and Take". These are held in the Memorial Hall on the second Saturday morning in both March and October.  Items can be brought along between 9.30am until 11am and taken between 10am and 12 noon.

Jumpers

• Take good condition jumpers to your local charity shop.

• Take to textile bank.

• See Wool.

Junk mail

500, 000 tonnes of junk mail is produced in the UK each year. It takes 6 trees to make 1 tonne of paper (3,000,000 trees used for junk mail each year). The UK is the second biggest importer of tropical wood in the world!

• Save the trees and contact the Mailing Preference Service, FREEPOST 22, London W1E 7EZ.

• Put junk mail in your black box.

• See Envelopes.

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Kitchen scraps

See Compost.

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Light bulbs

• Buy energy efficient light bulbs which can last as long as eight years (manufacturers guarantee), save you a serious amount off your electricity bill and reduce waste. Contact Louise Spicer (01608-810745) to borrow the Charlbury Waste Action Group's Low Enery Lightbulb Library for a few evenings to try out the wide range of bulbs that are now available. There is something for every type of light fitting you are likely to have in the house. The library has over 70 bulbs for you to find the bulbs that suit your fittings and check the colour and brightness in your own rooms. There are also details about where the bulbs can then be purchased.

• Fluorescent tubes & light bulbs (both old-style and low-energy) can all be taken to Dean Waste Recycling Centre and put in the special container.

• Light bulbs can be taken to a Charlbury Bring & Take and disposed of in the box provided, they will then be taken to Dean for recycling.

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Magazines

• Share them with friends.

• Donate magazines to libraries, doctor or dentist surgery waiting rooms.

• Take good quality magazines to charity shops.

• Put in Charlbury 'swap box' in the library.

• Put in your black box.

Medicines

• See Hazardous waste.

Metal

Recycling metal can save up to 90% or more of the resources used to make new metal.

• See Aluminium & steel cans.

• See Architectural salvage.

• DIY waste (copper & lead piping, scrap metal) can be taken to the Waste Recycling Centres.

Mobile phone batteries

• Put together in a separate bag in your black box so they can be taken out by the kerbside collection team and not end up jamming the conveyor belts in the separation process causing delay and damage.

• Take both dead batteries to the any of the three battery collection boxes in Charlbury - these are at the Post Office, the Corner House, and the Primary School. These are organised by CAWAG.

Mobile phones

In the UK alone 15 million mobile phones are thrown away each year:

• Please recycle your old mobile at participating phone shops or any British Red Cross or Oxfam store.

• Mobile phones (and printer cartridges) are collected in boxes at Charlbury Medical Centre, Charlbury Post Office, and Londis at Five Ways in aid of the British Heart Foundation and Oxford Ambulance League of Friends for Community First Responders - contact Carol Hughes for more info (01993 868710).

 • ActionAid is a charity that works with some of the World's poorest people. They also collect old mobiles for recycling, helping them raise money for their work eradicating poverty. Call 0117 304 2390 for a freepost returns envelope.

• Charities often slip into their magazines special envelopes for returning old mobile phones, this is an easy way to support your favourite charities.