Get creative

This Christmas, we’re challenging you to get creative with recycling. To help you rethink what you use, reuse what you can and recycle what you can’t, we’ve teamed up with local waste buster and Tadworth mum of two, Suzanne Gadilhe, to provide some festive inspiration and save you pennies in the process!

Already, the amount of waste we’re creating as a borough has drastically reduced since the launch of our new recycling and refuse service last year. However, recycling is much more exciting than putting your tins and paper in bins and boxes and making sure you put your food peelings in your food caddy.

“There’s not one day that goes by when I don’t recycle in some form or another,” says Suzanne.

“From composting my morning tea bag, turning old cans into pencil pots to planning the family’s weekly meals and turning leftovers into lunches, I’m always thinking about how I can re-use more and waste less.”

Talking rubbish

Suzanne has teamed up with Reigate & Banstead Borough Council to provide ideas and inspiration about how to reduce what you use, reuse what you can and recycle what you can’t this Christmas. By recycling more, we can stop waste going to landfill, have more money in our pockets and save taxpayers’ money. There are tips for making money from old goods, how to minimize excess turkey leftovers and recycling last year’s Christmas cards. 

“Christmas is a brilliant time to get creative by reusing and recycling things. You can use old Christmas cards to make labels for this year’s Christmas presents, decorate old plant pots and transform them into candle holders, sell old CDs online and make some money – always handy this time of year!”

For even more creative ideas on rethinking your rubbish and recycling for a better Christmas, visit Suzanne’s ‘Talking Rubbish’ page on social media site Pinterest. It’s packed full of ideas, tips and hints about how you could turn used foil into Christmas decoration or a red jumper that’s become too small into a stocking to hang over the fire. Or, you can visit our website for even more creative ideas to help get you started.

One final request – if you can’t reduce or re-use your rubbish and are recycling things, please make sure you ‘recycle it right’. If you aren’t sure what can go in your mixed recycling bins, visit www.reigate-banstead.gov.uk/recyclemore .