Ahead of their appearance at Bord Bia's Bloom, environmental not-for-profit organisation Repak has shared its latest research, revealing that 67% of Irish adults rate their recycling knowledge highly, but there is still room for improvement, as 71% don't know how to recycle bleach bottles correctly.
To help close these knowledge gaps, Repak will host a 'Most Sorted Garden' at Bord Bia Bloom in Dublin's Phoenix Park this Thursday - Monday, welcoming thousands of visitors with hands-on tips and practical inspiration for better recycling habits at home and in the garden.
Ahead of Ireland's premier garden festival, we spoke to journalist and sustainability advocate Jo Linehan about the festival and ways in which we can make our homes a little more eco-friendly
"The festival itself has so many unbelievable sustainability initiatives," Linehan says of Bloom, noting that coffee grounds from the festival will be donated to OPW for fertilising material; reusable cups and glassware will be available to attendees; and multiple public transport options will be available so cars can be avoided.
"Repak have designed a beautiful garden," she adds. "Everything in it will be what we, traditionally, would describe as waste items. They've reimagined so many things that we would throw away or recycle, and featured them as beautiful pieces in the garden."
As the host of one of Repak's panel discussions, Linehan hopes that the garden will inspire attendees to open their minds to reusing household items.
As it stands, three in five (60%) of people surveyed have used empty packaging for gardening purposes, such as starting seeds, as plant pots, for watering or for creating plant labels.
"I think people are so innovative," Linehan says of the findings. "The fact that that many gardeners are thinking that way is amazing."
Although the enthusiasm to recycle seems to be there, Linehan says that there is often a "knowledge gap" when it comes to organising our bins.
According to the research, less than half of adults can correctly identify which bins tinfoil (44%), cosmetic jars (45%) and deodorant cans (50%) should go in, while 71% don't know how to recycle bleach bottles correctly.
So, let's get straight to the answers:
- Tinfoil is recyclable as long as it is clean, dry, and loose.
- Cosmetic jars are recyclable as long as they are clean, dry and loose. Empty glass jars can be placed in the glass recycling bin, while plastic jars are typically recyclable with other plastics in the green / recycling bin at home.
- Deodorant cans can not be recycled as they are aerosols.
- Bleach & household cleaning bottles are recyclable as long as they are clean, dry and loose. This means you should rinse them to remove any residue, ensure they are completely dry, and place them loosely in the bin, without any bags, and with the lid on.
As well as hosting a panel discussion featuring Repak Members Ballymaloe Foods, Britvic Ireland, Coca Cola HBC, Homestore and More, Lidl Ireland and Musgrave to explore the future of recycling, Linehan will be speaking across the weekend on topics including sustainable fashion and sustainable beauty.
Over the five days of the festival, the journalist hopes to inspire optimistic, creative, and exciting conversations surrounding sustainability in Ireland.
"We hear so much about the negatives of what's happening to the environment, but we never really hear about the amazing things," she muses. "It's lovely to shine a light on the things that are really good."
When it comes to simple and effective ways to improve household recycling, Jo says to follow these four tips:
- Print out recycling guides and stick them on the fridge or above the bin.
- Every household is entitled to a brown compost bin - if you don't have one, get in touch with your bin supplier or apartment management.
- Add coffee grounds to the plants in your garden.
- Make a bird feeder from an empty plastic bottle - you can find handy tutorials on YouTube.
"It can be a really overwhelming thing to say you're going to be more sustainable," she admits. "It's really difficult to do, so if the only thing you did was up your recycling a bit or get that compost bin and start using it, that would be massive."
In fact, according to Repak, if every Bloom visitor decided to recycle one more item per day, it would result in 36.5 million more items diverted from landfill - the equivalent of 28 GAA pitches.
The Future of Recycling Panel with Jo Linehan will take place on the Repak stage on Thursday 29 May at 12:00pm, Friday, 30 May at 2:30pm, and Saturday, 31 May 2:30pm. For more information on the gardening festival, visit Bord Bia Bloom.
