Reusables, upcycling and free stuff… save your way to a better environment

What you can do

Here are just a few ideas:

• Move away from single use items; challenge yourself to ditch the disposables and try at least one reusable product. Common reusables include coffee cups, water bottles, face masks, carrier bags, nappies, hygiene products, handkerchiefs and facial wipes. 

• Buy second hand or donate unwanted items at one of our many charity shops or the re-use shop at the Household Reuse and Recycling Centre; 

• Rehome items for free through sharing groups such at Freegle, Freecycle and Olio;

• Use our reuse map and repair map.

What we’re doing

To help tackle the climate emergency, we’re creating a “circular economy” in Sutton. This means everything is reused, repaired or remanufactured into a new product, keeping it in use for as long as possible before recycling.

We’re doing this by:

• Mapping reuse and repair locations in the borough;

• Establishing the ‘Sutton Refill’ scheme;

• Funding a ‘Library of Things’ at Sutton Central Library - a place to borrow equipment and tools that you may not otherwise have access to;

• Publishing a new waste minimisation strategy and waste reduction and recycling action plan;

• Making it easier for people living in flats to recycle.

How this affects the climate emergency

Making and throwing things away create damaging emissions and use up the planet’s limited resources. By reusing, repairing and re-manufacturing products we keep them in use for longer, maximising their life-span before recycling that product or its parts. 

This is a circular economy; a far more sustainable and environmentally-friendly practice than the “make, use, dispose” approach.