AS YOU CAN imagine, Olympic medallist rowers Paul and Gary O’Donovan spend nearly as much time on water as they do on land, often training along some of the most beautiful waterways in Ireland.

But they often encounter something that Paul says “ruins the natural beauty of rivers and lakes” – floating bottles and other plastic. So when Repak approached them to raise awareness about recycling, it was an easy choice to say yes: “We’ve always been conscious of the environment around us, being out in nature so much”. 

While Paul tries to juggle training for the World Championship at the end of the summer (which will hopefully qualify them for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics) and a degree in medicine, he always makes time to recycle.

Here’s his niftiest recycling tips to ensure you can do the same.

1. If there’s no bin in sight, stick it in your bag

Being out in nature can be thirsty work, whether you’re out for a stroll, a hike or a run. But if you are bringing a water bottle, O’Donovan reminds that a great way to reduce your waste when you’re outside is pretty simple:

Hang onto all your plastic bottles rather than throwing them in the normal bin. Just throw them in your backpack in the meantime – it’s important to leave our natural surroundings clean for the next person.

2. Make sure you remove all soft plastic

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What you may not realise is that all of your recycling bin contents are initially hand-sorted when it hits the recycling centre. And one of the most common items removed at this stage tends to be soft plastic. To avoid this, O’Donovan reminds of the items that don’t belong in your recycle bin:

I think a lot of mistakes come from the soft plastic on berry punnets, salad leave bags and bags for bell peppers. Soft plastics aren’t currently recyclable and not many people are aware of that.

3. Don’t forget most national parks have recycle bins

Though you might be limited to general bins in city parks (you can always throw your plastic into your bag and then into the recycling bin when you get home or to work), the most beautiful spots in the country usually cater for recyclable waste.

So if you are visiting one of our six spectacular national parks, O’Donovan reminds to keep an eye out: “Within a lot of the national parks, there are usually recycling bins nearby.”

4. Invest in a good reusable bottle if you’re training

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Whether you’re training for a marathon or just trying to get a bit more in shape, chances are you’ll go through a lot of water bottles in the process. And potentially, some protein shaker bottles. If that’s the case, it’s important you prepare yourself with the right stuff before you train, says O’Donovan:

Get a good reusable bottle that you can wash, if you’re constantly bringing half litre bottles around. If you’re using buckets of protein, make sure you throw them in the recycling – hard plastic is recyclable. 

5. Wash everything out before it goes in (especially if it’s milk)

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Though you might be good at throwing your milk cartons or plastic bottles in the recycling, you may be missing the most important step – washing it out. This can actually do more harm than good as rotten milk or food can spread onto the other clean recycling, explains O’Donovan:

When people don’t clean them out, a dirty milk bottle will contaminate all the other ‘good recycling’ that they have put in. You have to clean them or all that will be ruined – the same goes for food.

6. Try to make things easier for your colleagues

There is usually at least one person in every office that tends to (by mistake or otherwise) somehow throw food like banana skins or apple cores into the recycling. For this O’Donovan suggests taking turns checking the contents of the recycle bin, and more generally to make the message loud and clear for them:

It’s worth printing out a few labels for the bins so that people can see exactly what they can and can’t put in. It’s also worth having an open conversation with them.

O’Donovan adds: “If everyone holds themselves responsible at work, we’ll find a big decrease in the wrong things ending up in the recycle bin.”

Think your recycling habits could do with a little work? Not sure exactly what should go into your recycle bin? Find out exactly what you can recycle here. Currently we recycle 33% of plastics in Ireland, but we need to ensure Ireland meets its targets of 50% by 2025. See what you can do to play your part at Repak.ie.