Recycling: Everyone's Responsible

We recycle the majority of our waste at Cullercoats Bike & Kayak, we see this as an essential part of meeting our commitment to minimising the environmental impact of the business. Surprisingly the majority of business waste is not recycled, retail and hospitality businesses being some of the worst offenders. Many cite the cost of doing so as the main reason, or being too busy to effectively seperate waste. In our view, these aren't really valid reasons.

The first thing you should know is that there is no weekly collection of commercial waste by the local authority, businesses are free to choose their own contractor, which keeps disposal prices down. For a business the size of Cullercoats Bike & Kayak, waste disposal charges for landfill are HIGHER than the same volume of mixed recyclables. In fact for a standard wheelie bin full of mixed recyclables, the collection charge is less than £3 per week. So cost is not an issue.

At CBK, we just ask our staff and customers to seperate their own waste. Monitoring this for the last couple of weeks has shown very little cross-contamination, most customers are really happy to oblige. So ask yourself, are your favourite business at the coast recycling their waste? If this is something that matters to you, be sure to ask them next time you visit. Remind them that the coastline is the biggest asset that their business has and they, like all of us, have a responsibility to keep it clean and tidy by reducing, reusing or recycling their waste. By recycling waste they can also cut their carbon footprint, help to slow global warming and keep the ocean temperature more stable. Small changes collectively make a big difference!

We would like to see an Environmental Quality Mark for businesses that love and respect the North Tyneside coast, a similar scheme exists in the Peak District National Park. If you are a local and business owner and might like to help us get such a thing started, let us know. If you want to read more about the values behind what we do at CBK, check out our About page.