Last year, father, actor and farmer, Kelvin Fletcher, made the decision to uproot his life and move his family from Oldham, where the star was born and bred, to a rural farm in the Peak District.
One year on, Kelvin says the new set-up has taught him some invaluable life lessons, including how important it is for us to protect and conserve the beautiful countryside around us – and the many ways we can do this in our day-to-day lives.
And now, to celebrate Recycle Week and his partnership on plastic circularity with BUXTON Natural Mineral Water, he is sharing some of the key ways he and his family are doing this – from closing the recycling loop on items, to knowing how to check whether something is recyclable or not – all in the hope that his learnings might help show others how easy it is to take positive action.
- Make recycling at home easy
"When we moved to the farm, we introduced a couple of different bins so we could easily separate recyclable things from our general waste. It has not been easy to tackle this. We've put recycling bins in every room of the house so, whether it's a shampoo bottle or a cereal box, as much as possible is sorted for recycling".
- Choose recycled where possible
"Some plastic packaging is recyclable, but not all are made from recycled plastic too. BUXTON recently became the largest British natural mineral water brand to have all its bottles 100% made of recycled plastic (excluding caps and labels), and 100% recyclable. So, when we buy these, we know that our water bottle is always made from other bottles and that we are closing the loop on plastics by recycling them again once we've finished with them.
"Whether it's clothes, furniture, or things made from plastic or paper, we can all try to make better choices when buying items made from recycled materials".
- Remember to recycle when out and about
"We've always been a really active family, and especially now that we've moved to the beautiful Peak District. With so much space to roam and explore, we're often heading out for family walks, picnics or visiting our neighbouring villages.
"And it's important to keep the kids hydrated when we're doing things like this but that can often lead to a lot of things left over from their drinks and juice cartons. It can sometimes be difficult to find recycling bins when out, so we find it is best to simply take our recycling home. We've started taking a bag specifically for our recycling out with us – I've found that this encourages me to actually bring it all home where it can be sorted and recycled in no time."
- Make it fun!
"We've turned recycling into a game with the whole family which has made it a fun activity for everybody to get involved in. Suddenly it's much easier to do and nobody is left sorting the bins out alone.
"We'll do simple things likes setting a bin up like a basketball hoop to get paper balls into or counting how many pieces of plastic we can put in the right bin - it’s a great way to involve children!"
- Check the labels
"Before you put something straight into your bin, always check the label for any recycling instructions. Most brands make it really clear what can be recycled and how."
When speaking about his partnership with BUXTON, Kelvin said: "I was really excited to hear about BUXTON's impressive achievement of becoming the Britain's largest natural mineral water brand to have its whole range of bottles not only made from 100% recycled plastic (rPET) but still, fully recyclable.
"Since moving to the Peak District with my young family, I've come to appreciate nature and our surroundings more than I ever thought I could – and I've learnt just how big of a role we have to play when protecting it for future generations. Thanks to the sustainable choices made by BUXTON, we can all help to close the loop on plastic recycling while staying hydrated, by recycling the bottles again, we help reduce the amount of plastic that escapes the loop and ends up in landfill. Taking small steps like this can help make a big difference."
To find out more about BUXTON Natural Mineral Water and its environmental journey, please visit BUXTON website.