ZERO TO WASTE LANDFILL

Top 10 Tips to Declutter Your Home (Serving St. Helens & Surrounding Areas)

Spring is in the air! As the days lengthen and the first signs of new life emerge, it’s the perfect time to refresh not just your surroundings, but also the space you call home. A cluttered home can lead to a cluttered mind, making it harder to relax, focus, and truly enjoy your living environment. This spring, why not embark on a decluttering journey that will leave your home feeling lighter, brighter, and more inviting? At North West Waste Consultants, we understand the importance of a clean and organised environment. While our focus is on helping businesses in St. Helens and the wider North West reduce landfill waste and boost recycling, we believe the principles of mindful consumption and waste reduction start at home. A good declutter isn’t just about tidiness; it’s about taking stock of what you own, letting go of what no longer serves you, and ultimately reducing the amount of waste that ends up in landfill. So, grab your gloves, open your windows, and get ready to transform your home with our top 10 tips for a successful spring declutter: 1. Start Small and Conquer One Area at a Time: The thought of decluttering your entire home can feel overwhelming. Avoid burnout by tackling one manageable area at a time. This could be a single drawer, a shelf, a corner of a room, or even just your wardrobe. Completing a smaller task provides a sense of accomplishment and motivates you to move onto the next. Consider starting with a high-impact but relatively contained space like a hallway closet or a bathroom cabinet. Seeing the immediate difference will fuel your decluttering momentum. 2. The Four-Box Method: Your Decluttering Toolkit: To make the decision-making process easier, equip yourself with four boxes (or bags): ● Keep: Items you use regularly and truly love. ● Donate/Sell: Items in good condition that you no longer need but could benefit someone else. ● Recycle: Items that are no longer usable but can be recycled. ● Trash: Items that are broken, damaged beyond repair, or genuinely have no other use. As you go through each item, make a decisive choice and place it in the corresponding box. This structured approach helps to avoid getting bogged down in indecision. 3. The 12-Month Rule: When Was the Last Time You Used It? A simple yet effective rule for decluttering is to ask yourself when you last used an item. If you haven’t used it in the past 12 months (with the exception of seasonal items), chances are you don’t need it. Be honest with yourself. Holding onto things “just in case” can quickly lead to clutter. If you haven’t needed it for a year, the likelihood of needing it in the future is slim. 4. Focus on Functionality and Necessity: Go through your belongings with a critical eye. Does this item serve a purpose in your life? Do you use it regularly? Does it bring you joy? If the answer to these questions is consistently “no,” it’s a strong indicator that the item can be let go. This is particularly helpful in areas like the kitchen (unused gadgets), the linen closet (excessive bedding), and the office (old documents). 5. Tackle the Trouble Spots First: Every home has those notorious areas where clutter tends to accumulate – the junk drawer, the spare room, the overflowing laundry basket. While it might seem daunting, tackling these trouble spots early can provide a significant sense of relief and make the rest of the decluttering process feel easier. Once you conquer these challenging areas, the rest will feel like a breeze. 6. One In, One Out: A Sustainable Approach: Once you’ve decluttered, adopt the “one in, one out” rule. This means that for every new item you bring into your home, you get rid of a similar item. This helps to prevent clutter from building up again over time and encourages more mindful purchasing habits. This principle aligns perfectly with North West Waste Consultants’ commitment to reducing waste generation. 7. Digitise and Declutter Paperwork: In today’s digital age, much of our paperwork can be stored electronically. Invest in a scanner or use a scanning app on your phone to digitise important documents, bills, and receipts. Once scanned and backed up, shred and recycle the physical copies (ensuring you dispose of sensitive information securely). This can significantly reduce paper clutter and free up valuable storage space. 8. Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help (or a Second Opinion): If you’re struggling to let go of certain items, consider asking a trusted friend or family member for a fresh perspective. Sometimes, an objective viewpoint can help you see things more clearly. They might be able to offer practical advice or simply provide the encouragement you need to make a decision. 9. Make Decluttering a Regular Habit: Decluttering shouldn’t be a once-a-year event. Incorporate small decluttering tasks into your regular routine. Spend 15 minutes each week tidying a specific area, or do a quick sweep before putting away groceries. Regular maintenance will prevent clutter from accumulating and make future deep declutters much less overwhelming. 10. Dispose of Unwanted Items Responsibly (Think Beyond the Bin): As North West Waste Consultants advocates for minimising landfill waste, be mindful of how you dispose of your unwanted items. ● Donate: Clothes, furniture, books, and household goods in good condition can be donated to local charities in St. Helens and surrounding areas. This gives your items a new life and supports a good cause. ● Sell: Items of value can be sold online, at car boot sales, or through local classifieds. ● Recycle: Ensure you are properly recycling all eligible materials according to your local council’s guidelines. Check the St. Helens Council website for information on kerbside collections and recycling centres. ● Responsible Waste Disposal: For items that cannot be donated or recycled, ensure they are disposed of responsibly. Consider using local waste management services that prioritise waste diversion from landfill, like the principles North West Waste Consultants champions for businesses. Bringing it All Together: Decluttering your home this spring is an investment in your well-being. By following these tips, you can create a more organised, functional, and peaceful living space. Remember that every item you choose to let go of is a step towards a lighter and more intentional way of living. Just as North West Waste Consultants helps businesses in St. Helens and beyond streamline their waste management and reduce their environmental impact, you too can make conscious choices about the items you bring into your home and how you dispose of those you no longer need. Embrace the spring cleaning spirit and enjoy the benefits of a decluttered home!

Summer Recycling Tips

As the weather heats up with the World cup and Wimbledon in full swing you may be in holiday mode, but that doesn’t mean we should take a break from sustainability. Every year in Britain, we chuck away almost 450 million tonnes of household waste, most of which ends up in landfill. Rubbish like plastic bags can take hundreds of years to break down, so it’s best to find ways to both minimise and reuse our household waste. With many areas of the country only 10 years away from completely filling their local landfill sites, it’s crucial we all do our bit – starting now!

North West Waste would like to offer the following top tips to help make sure that looking after the environment remains high on your priority list over the summer: Get some wear out of your old clothes Why not have a sort out and bag up any old clothes you don’t wear anymore? if you are clearing out your wardrobe to make room for summer clothes, or getting rid of everything you didn’t wear this summer come the autumn, Anything good enough to be worn again can be donated to a charity shop, anything else can be chopped up and used for stuffing, rags or patchwork blankets!

Greener barbecues

If you are having a barbecue this summer remember that much of the waste produced can be recycled. You can recycle all your paper, card and cardboard; glass bottles and jars; cans, tins and empty aerosols; plastic bottles, pots tubs, and trays as well as cartons.

If your barbecue preparation includes getting rid of an old grill, recycle it instead of throwing it away. Once you have finished recycling your old grill, replace it with a more eco-friendly version.

On road trips

Pack food and snacks in reusable containers and bring a reusable water bottle instead of buying bottled water. Don’t forget to bring along bags to collect recyclables in the car and look for recycling bins at rest stops, use reusable crockery rather than disposable knives and forks and paper plates. Buy loose fruit and vegetables rather than food in disposable packaging.

Don’t litter

This is an all-round good rule for any time of the year, but it may be more likely that you’re going out for a picnic somewhere in the nice weather! If you are, make sure to try and pack as much of your food in reusable containers to reduce waste (and save you money!). You should also take bags with you to make sure that you take any rubbish from your picnic with you.

If you’re a business looking for some solutions to your recycling or food waste problems this summer, don’t hesitate to get in touch with North West Waste to learn more about what we do.

Olympics 2020 Beds and Medals Made of Recycled Materials

Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics is one of the much-awaited events of this year. It is the time where athletes around the world will come together to showcase and compete for their skills with the aim of honour and camaraderie.

But this year of competition is quite different from the previous years. The Olympics organising committee came up with a brilliant idea of using recycled materials. This idea truly deserves an appreciation, knowing that they will able to help preserve the environment.

It is exciting to know what materials and how they were able to produce to achieve such an aim of using recycled materials.

recycled olympics

Well, one of the main topics on the news is the Olympics organising committee shared that the medals at the 2020 Summer Olympics will be made from recycled electronics. Most of the electronics contain copper, silver, and gold-which are essential in making medals for the Olympics. Last 2017, the Olympics organisers requested the Japanese residents to donate their old smartphones and other electronic devices to produce medals for this year’s Summer Olympics.

The Japanese residents were very supportive; the Olympics Organisers were able to collect 78,985 tons of donated electronics, and from that, they were able to bring out approximately 4,850 pounds of bronze, 7,716 pounds of silver, and 70 pounds of gold. Amazingly enough to provide medals for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Not just medals made from recycled materials will be used for this event. The bed frames for athletes will be made of recycled cardboard as well. Even if it is recycled, the Olympics Organisers assures that it’s durable where it will be able to support a weight of about 200kg. The mattress for the beds will be from polyethylene materials, which will be reuse for plastic products after the event. A perfect combination to achieve environmentally friendly materials.

The Olympics Organisers extended their effort to embrace environmentally friendly materials. The Olympic Torch is made from aluminium waste and the podiums from recycled household and marine plastic waste.

Stable electricity must be required for this big event. Thus, the Power source will come from renewable sources to attain an eco-friendly goal.

Skip Hire St Helens

North West Waste Consultants are a modern and innovative business in waste management and recycling solutions based in St Helens, providing bespoke and tailored services to meet increasing demands for local, regional and national businesses.

With further rises in tax on waste-to-landfill, the cost of disposing of your waste is ever increasing. Added to this is the pressure to continually improve your business’ social and environmental impact by recycling more waste than ever before.

At North West Waste Consultants, they understand these challenges and work with customers across a variety of sectors to develop bespoke waste management solutions. Our cost-effective, efficient and convenient waste management services will reduce your carbon footprint, and increase your environmental performance and savings for your business.

Nationwide Skip Hire

North West Waste Consultants was set up in 2009 in St Helens by Warren Aspinall, with the view to help local and national companies reduce their landfill and general waste costs, ensuring higher rebates are paid for recyclables and food waste.

They achieve this by diverting as much waste as possible from landfill; therefore massively reducing waste costs as well as being environmentally friendly.

Every waste management program is bespoke to each specific site with the aim that within 12 months to achieve complete zero waste to landfill. With landfill prices increasing year-by-year we are always looking to use new and innovative methods for the disposal of waste in a cost effective and an environmentally friendly manner, with regular, weekly and monthly updates provided.

What We Offer

plastic recycling uk

At North West Waste, they can help find the right waste solution for your business on a national scale, delivered seven days a week to any location across the UK. Supplying a full range of skips, from 4 yards up to 16 yards, as well as larger roll-on, roll-off containers, from 20 yards up to 40 yards.

  • North West Waste offer:
  • Skip and Waste Container Hire
  • Domestic and commercial use
  • General waste disposal
  • Recycling
  • Social Value

Regardless of where in the United Kingdom you have your next project, North West Waste Consultants has the experience and capabilities to fulfil your requirements. With access to a vast network of vehicles from wheelie bins to caged lorries wagons and much much more. They provide recycling and disposal solutions to the domestic, shop fitting, construction and specialist sectors of the market including hazardous, bulk liquid, asbestos, chemical, pharmaceutical and contaminated waste.

Depending on the size of skip you require, NWWC team of experts make managing your waste disposal as easy as possible.

We have experience of managing a wide range of waste management contracts. Our solutions are designed to deliver a high quality, legally compliant waste management service incorporating the management, site logistics, storage and collection of both hazardous and non-hazardous waste streams working closely with our waste management partners.

What Makes Them Different?

North West Waste ensure that the client is the priority with every job that they take on, which is why they provide a tailored waste management plan in order to fulfil your needs. The team are willing to provide a customised plan that will make you feel more valued as a customer, as they know that every job is different, and requires a lot of careful consideration.

This also helps to give your staff some industry know how for future waste disposal needs, which includes how to segregate waste correctly at source, this will help you to reduce your costs and divert your waste form landfill.

Unlike other skip hire providers, NWWC committed to a 100% recycling rate, meaning that anything you dispose of in your skip that can be recycled will be recycled.

Customer service

We pride ourselves on providing the best possible customer service. Our highly trained dedicated customer services team are at hand to provide advice and discuss your specific requirements. Our polite and courteous team will make sure you get the best skip solution for your needs and that the skip is delivered on time and with the minimum disruption.

Flexible and reliable

Skips can be provided as required or on a fixed contract basis. When an order is placed the skip will be delivered to you at a designated time by one of our highly experienced and qualified drivers. Our drivers will endeavour to make sure the skips are delivered on time and are positioned in the most convenient place possible.

With solutions delivering a streamlined waste management service for all waste streams through one point of contact, maximising management efficiency – a one stop shop. Compliance is at the heart of what we deliver; underpinned by accredited services in the industrial setting demonstrating a robust environmental and quality assured service.

North West Waste has the experience and capabilities to fulfil all your requirements. With access to a vast network of vehicles we provide recycling and disposal solutions to the domestic, hospitality, construction and specialist sectors of the market including hazardous, asbestos, chemical, pharmaceutical and clinical waste. The waste management industry has undergone many changes over recent years, however North West Waste is at the forefront of adapting our capabilities to meet the ever changing legislation.

Don’t Let Go – Balloon Releases On The Environment

Sourced from: https://www.facebook.com/MOEH242/photos/

If you haven’t seen this image on your social media timeline it is only a matter of time before you do. The Ministry of Environment and Housing have posted this image highlighting the impact of plastic and balloons being released into the environment.

A local traditions at memorials, schools, weddings, and other events balloon releases are something we have all done but have you ever considered the impact this can cause?

The Impact On Our Environment

Balloons that are released outside have end up somewhere, usually this is caught up in tree branches or electrical wiring.

Balloons that are not properly disposed of end up in the ocean and along coastal areas, becoming marine debris. This debris can be mistaken for food and eaten causing interal injury and potential death. The string attached to the balloons can also cause potential death as it wraps around marine wildlife and become entangled.


The Solution?

Instead of balloon releases you can instead have fun, celebrate, and remember with environmentally-friendly alternatives that The Ministry of Environment and Housing recommended.

If however balloon releases is not avoidable then the MCSUK have guidelines for wildlife friendly balloon use including the following:

  • Let go of balloons indoors only
  • Fill the balloons with air not helium.
  • Use balloons made of natural rubber latex rather than foil balloons.
  • When tying balloons use natural cotton string rather than plastic ribbon.
  • Hand tie balloons rather than using plastic valves.

    Be a party pooper We all know reducing plastic in everyday life is easier said than done but something so simple as balloon releases can be an easy way to do your part. It may be just one balloon but to a critically endangered species of marine wildlife it could be their last meal.