[AD] Recycling Your Electricals: Why Not DIY Sustainably this Spring?

Over the last year one of the biggest single growth areas has been the increase in people doing DIY around the home. Of course the major reason behind this has been the Covid-19 pandemic which meant that people were in lockdown for long periods of time and in their homes. With all this time on their hands looking around their homes many people started many DIY jobs to stay occupied and to improve their lifestyle. I certainly was one of those people that started doing more DIY than ever before too – if that’s even possible for DIY Daddy! This is about to move up another notch in the next few months as we are hopefully moving home and our possible new home is in need of some major TLC. So DIY Daddy is going to be a very busy boy with extra DIY jobs and undertaking a massive declutter of where we are living. 

How many of us have tried to do DIY with sustainability in mind? Nowadays there seems to be an electrical tool for sale to do every conceivable DIY job.  Many of us buy these electrical tools to do DIY jobs around the home and incredibly use them just once before storing it away for years in our sheds or garages. Here are my four tips that when you are doing those DIY jobs around the home, you can do it more sustainably with just a little thought. 

1. Borrowing the electrical tool you need

Instead of spending a lot of money on an electrical DIY tool such as a pressure washer or an electric saw that you will most likely only use a couple of times in one year, maybe that is a good time to ask family or friends to see if they have a power tool that you can lend to do the DIY job in your home. 

2. Renting the electrical tool you need

If you are looking for a DIY electrical tool that could be for a specialist job, those types of electrical tools are generally very expensive. To save yourself some money, because you are most likely only going to use it for a couple of days, why not rent one? There are many companies all over the UK that rent electrical tools very cheaply. For example, a friend of mine who has recently moved house said that a tool they found worth renting was a floor sander. You can hire them from as little as £35.40 from companies like HSS Hire. This is something that I will definitely be looking to do, because our potential new home has solid wood block floors so I will have to decide between sanding the floors and varnishing or laying carpet, even more DIY! 

3. Using manual DIY tools 

Long before the mass production of electrical DIY tools, people used handheld saws and screwdrivers. So before you contemplate buying a new electrical DIY tool such as an electric saw, have a look in your shed or ask family if they have the manual tools that will do the job just as well. It may take you a bit longer but it will complete your DIY job just as well. 

4. Recycling your unwanted electrical tools

I have teamed up with Recycle Your Electricals to highlight how important it is to recycle all your unwanted, unused or broken electrical items. Borrowing or renting tools is not only good for your pocket but it’s good for the planet too. This leads me onto why. When you have an electrical item you no longer need, it’s important to get rid of it in the right way – you can sell for extra cash, donate to someone who can use it, or recycle it when it’s reached its end of life.

Unwanted electricals are the fastest growing waste product in the world and the UK. So if you have any electrical item with a plug, battery or a cable it can be recycled. Recycle Your Electricals is on a mission with the ultimate goal of stopping the UK nation from throwing away or hoarding all their small electricals. Many of those electrical tools or items ending up in landfill which seems such a waste as they are packed full of precious materials such as gold, copper and aluminium.  

Recycle Your Electricals are making it easier for people to recycle those unwanted or broken electricals by providing more recycling points all over the UK – over 3,000!. In addition, they provide very practical information on how we can recycle. Check out their Recycling Locator to find your local reuse and recycling points where you can dispose of your old electricals in a sustainable way that will protect our planet and let our children inherit a planet that is in a good state.

This spring I’m personally on a mission to have a massive decluttering of our garage, because as I have already mentioned we hopefully will be moving. It will take me a little while but my main aim is to declutter everything in a sustainable way to help protect the planet and ensure that I minimise the amount of waste that goes to landfill. 

Do you recycle your electricals? I would love to hear your experiences in the comments below. 

This is a paid collaboration.