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U-Z

 

Last updated 12 June 2009

 

U

Upholstery

• See Furniture.

V

Video cassettes

 • Donate good condition video cassettes to charity shops, or give to friends

• Take to Book Banks at Eynsham, Chipping Norton, or Witney.

W

Wallpaper

• Use to line cupboards and drawers.

• See Orinoco Oxfordshire Scrapstore.

Washable nappies

• See Nappies.

Washing machines

• See Electrical Equipment.

Water (bath)

• Take showers instead of a baths – you use on 30% less water on average. . . . . . but beware power showers which can use a lot more.

• In summer, use old bath water to water the garden (plants like soap as it contains nitrates).

• If you have a large enough bath, share a bath with someone (only if you know them well!) . . . . . or just take turns in the same water.

Water (bottled)

• See Bottles (plastic).

Water (filters)

• To recycle your used Brita cartridges take them to the Good Food Shop in Charlbury who started collecting them in March 2009. You can also take them to the recycling box at Cargo in Witney (opposite Waitrose). Look out for in-store recycling boxes at  Robert Dyas, Argos, Comet, Sainsbury's Homebase, Asda, and Makro.

Water (rainwater)

• Get a discounted water butt from WODC Environmental Services (01993 770222) to save rainwater for your garden (pets and plants like it better than tap water).

Water (tap)

• Don’t leave the tap running when you brush your teeth or wash.

• Don’t wash-up or rinse under a running tap – use a washing-up bowl to contain the water and use afterwards to water the garden.

• Use a garden hose only if essential – bathwater is fine for the garden – rainwater is even better (pets and wildlife prefer rainwater, too).

• Get dripping taps mended.

• Get a water meter (they are fitted for free by the water authority) – if you live in a 1 or 2-person household, you may be able to halve your water bill, because bill estimates are based on a family that doesn’t conserve water!

Wood

• See Architectural salvage.

Wool

• See Jumpers.

• Use odd bits of wool to tie gift tags to presents.

• Use to tie up objects to scare birds in the garden or allotment (make sure your pets can’t get tangled up in it).

• Put 100% wool in the Compost.

Wormery

• A wormery can be used instead of a compost bin, but they are high maintenance (they can escape) and you need to have someone look after them if you go on holiday.

X

Xmas trees

• See Christmas trees.

Xylophones (and other musical instruments)

• Donate unwanted children’s xylophones to nurseries, playgroups, charity shops.

• 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.

Y

Yellow Pages

• From 2009, yes these can go into your black box.

• See Telephone directories.

Z

Zero Waste

By working together we can achieve Zero Waste – the practice of reducing, reusing and recycling our rubbish so that none of it needs to go to landfill. In a few years landfill sites will fill up and there will be nowhere left to put our rubbish, unless we incinerate it (but we will still have to put the ash somewhere) or send it to Developing countries to be processed, where it will contaminate poorer communities.

By using the reduce, reuse and recycling facilities provided by Charlbury Area Waste Action Group, West Oxfordshire District Council and Oxfordshire County Council, and by taking personal responsibility for the rubbish you produce, you are contributing to the Zero Waste policy.

In a bright future not too far away, when every person, business and government is handling rubbish in an environmentally friendly way, then the mountains of rubbish will cease to grow, and we can look forward to a cleaner environment.


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