In Praise of the UK’s First Recycling Website
MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington today gave her backing to the national exchange website “2recycle.co.uk”. The website, which has been running for almost a year, allows people to advertise, without charge, goods they no longer want in order to give them away for free to others who will find them useful. People can also post ads, again without charge, to request things they need.
The idea behind the website is to provide a local service so that people can give away and collect items within their local community. Currently 70 cities and towns across the UK are listed on the website and the organisation has plans to expand the idea to smaller communities as well.
The benefits of the service are that givers can get rid of unwanted goods from their homes, without needing a skip or adding to landfill sites, while receivers can get items they need for free. Furthermore, local authorities and tax-payers can actually save money on rubbish removal. And finally, an unintended consequence is that the act of giving and receiving helps local people to get to know each other and strengthens community relations.
A keen recycler herself, Diane commented:
“The 2recycle idea is incredibly simple but at the same time brilliant. So many people throw away perfectly worthy goods, which means they end up in overflowing landfills or messing up our streets. For people on low incomes, like a lot of my constituents, this is the perfect way to get hold of furniture, electrical items and children’s toys that otherwise they may well not be able to afford.”
Ends
Editor’s notes:
1. Visit the 2recycle Website on: www.2recycle.co.uk and see what you can donate and collect!
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