Love your electricals - set them free

According to research, our modern reliance on electrical goods and the emotional bonds we form with them prevent people from recycling unused items.  However, many of these much-loved items could be put to good use by someone else, or be broken down into components: recycling the valuable materials to help preserve natural resources.

The research shows:

• 40% feel too sad to part with an item they no longer use
• 41% hoped it might come in handy some day or would be able to pass it on to someone
• 23% feel that some items seem too valuable just to throw away
• 29% hang on to them because they're not sure what to do with them.

Psychologist Linda Blair explains the motivations behind the emotional barriers to recycling:

"We value our electrical items because they make life easier and because so many of them connect us to the wider social world, either practically or because of the memories associated with them.

"Even when we no longer use them, we may be reluctant to let them go for a mixture of rational and sentimental reasons. A key factor is the sense of connection, control and safety these items give us. The attachment is similar to an infant needing a teddy or comfort blanket.

"This explains why we can end up having tantrums when the item breaks down and why some of them end up accompanying us everywhere - having their place at meals and by the bed for example."

This Recycle Week also sees the Recycle Now campaign joining up with the British Heart Foundation to promote donation of electrical items that are still in good working condition.

Three out of every four of us have at least one old or unused electrical item in our home which could be recycled to help save precious resources.  Many of these items contain important plastics and metals that can be recycled to make new products.  For example, just one toaster can provide enough steel to make 25 new cans.

Innocent Drinks Smoothies -  In support of Recycle Week and to encourage us all to recycle our empty plastic bottles, Innocent Drinks has designed a new label featuring the 'recycling dude' on three of their Smoothie product range.  Over 1.2 millions bottles will be available during the month of June.