Calling all my eco-warriors, where you at?! You may have heard that it’s National Recycling Week.

In honour this momentous occasion, we’re dedicating this post to busting those popular myths about recycling that have been doing the rounds… why you ask?

Well you may or may not be aware, but here at BargainFox.com we are obsessed with mother earth. No seriously… every spare chance we get we’re all out enjoying her splendours whether that be her ocean or her land… we love our surroundings! Therefore, I will shamelessly promote helpful things you, I, or any Tom Dick and Harry can do for that matter. If you’re interested in the same kinda thing, check out our recent post on Instagram here about plastic in our oceans.

And if that doesn’t convince you, then you needn’t look further than the Bargainfox.com model. Yes we love bargains and yes, we love saving you money... but we also love (arguably even more) the fact that when you buy from us you're revitalising the life of a product. 

On our part, we try to make it as easy as possible for you to recycle. We re-use packaging wherever possible, and when we can't we use our own fully recyclable packaging... so you've got no excuse! Shopping with us not only saves you money, buy we like to think it's a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way to shop. 

So this week, because it's National Recycling Week, shop with us instead of elsewhere, and you can give yourself a pat on the back knowing you've done something to limit your impact and join in with the recycling effort! ♻️♻️

But enough about that, you're here for the myth-busting! So let's put our detective hats on and start investigating. 🕵️🕵️

Myth #1 - 'You can't recycle any plastic'

Believe it or not, in the UK there are a load of plastics that can now be recycled! The two most recycled are HDPE and PET, which are used to make items such as milk and soft-drink bottles. So make sure to check your beverage of choice before chucking it in the bin! 

Myth #2 - 'All paper cups are recyclable'

No no no, do not be fooled! It is a popular opinion that just because a cup is made from 'paper' that it can be recycled. However, many paper cups have to be carefully managed at waste sorting facilities and are taken off site, only to end in landfill. So if your favourite coffee shop has 'paper' cups, check that they can be recycled within the normal waste paper streams. If they are not, then put on the pressure for them to move to an easily recyclable cup! 

Myth #3 - 'Only machines sort materials in recycling facilities' 

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there are real people in recycling facilities. So next time you go to throw your mouldy chips into the recycling bin, remember that someone will have to pick that up and deal with it. So not only is it an environmental issue, but it is also a human issue because these people have to touch your stuff!

Myth #4 - 'You should crush your cans before recycling them'

It may have been necessary at one time, but contrary to popular belief, crushing cans is no longer needed. If anything, these days it actually causes issues for recycling centers. This is because when flattened, they can be mistaken for a flat object (like paper or cardboard) giving them a likelihood of being missorted, and contaminating the paper and carboard streams... oh dear. 

Myth #5 - 'You don't need to seperate materials to enable recycling'

FALSE. As much as I'd want it to be true, there are no recycling fairies that go in the bins after you.. *sigh*. In fact, a lot of the packaging that you'll put in to your recycling bins will be made from more than one material and if not dealt with, can make it less likely to be processed. SO... how do we solve this issue I hear you ask? Well, you can either ensure that your item is made from a single material (in which case you can put the whole thing in the recycling bin). If it is not made from one material, then the best thing to do is to separate the materials before putting them in the bin. For example, most sandwhich boxes you pick up in the meal deal section, need to have the window peeled out and disposed of seperately -- a small bit of effort on our part that will do the world of good. 

So there we have it! 5 Recycling Myths have been busted... you're welcome.

I know we can't be perfect all the time, but the main thing is that we're consciously trying to be more responsible with our waste, because the more we can do as an individual will hopefully mean bigger collective action to tackle climate change on the whole! So next time you go to recycle your items, just think about these things and what you can do to help.. and don't be scared to call out other people on it!