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Use Coloured Recycling Bins At Your Mosque

As part of our Eco Mosque project here in Huddersfield UK, we want to introduce recycling in the classrooms. It needs to be bright, inter...

As part of our Eco Mosque project here in Huddersfield UK, we want to introduce recycling in the classrooms. It needs to be bright, interactive maybe, but above all, approved by the Mosque Board Members! -makes intense dua-

Outside our mosque, Anware Madina in Hudderfield, are the standard bins from Kirklees council. You know, those large skip-sized green bins with the un-liftable lid? The mosque has 8 of those (!) On my to-do list is to figure out which of those green bins are actually designated recycling bins.

In the meantime I'm looking for creative containers to use inside the mosque for both the women's and men's classrooms. I have looked at our available space and I know what sort of features our recycling bins should have. Here are a few contenders.

Pictured above: 4 wooden recycling boxes from Marmax Products (UK) look fun and convert into great seats. I think due to the adverse British weather and space limitation, I'd prefer indoor recycling containers.

I'm looking for colour. I definitely want co-ordinated bins since our youngest students are 4 years old, with the current eldest, 15 years old. For the younger kids, these labelled steel bins (above) promote education and recycling. I would use images and words for the non-English speaking mosque attendees and because pictures are fun!


Ooh, how about these coloured recycling bags from Medway? They could sit on the floor next to the shoe racks or be hung from coat pegs as a sort of, floating-trash system. Portable, much easier to take from room to room after lessons, labelled so students know what to put in. I wonder if they can be clipped together? No, they can't. -sadface-


How nifty are these?! POD BINS. Created by Event Waste Management, these outdoor pod bins for schools slot together into a 360 degree recycling centre. Hmm. I have limited space, I prefer something backed against a wall like those standalone bins in the background.


'Yes Recycling Bins' - large opening, labelled bins, coloured lids. They meet some of the criteria. Oh, wait, they're only available in South Africa! Oops.

Stacked box bins from A Place For Everything? Cool, there's 4 of them with a capacity of 32ltr. Easy to lift, empty, wipe down. Mind you, there's no lid at all, which is important to cover the trash prevent bad smells.

Trash Cans Unlimited from the US sell these stackable bins which sit side by side or tower to become vertical recycling centres. The lids (good! lids!) can be positioned to stay open, or be completely removed. Such a shame the shipping charge to UK is almost double the price, otherwise, I like!

This is a bit more practical too. Three coloured recycling bins with attached lids from ECOZ. They're not too small, a large enough capacity. For hygiene reasons I wouldn't want kids lifting the lids and then going to pray or read Qur'an. A non-contact bin is safer...

So I've figured out what our mosque really needs.

What we need in a recycling bin
  • Colour co-ordination, creative
  • Non-contact lids or openings
  • Clear text labels and/or images (translatable into Urdu?)
  • Stacking system for vertical storage
  • Lightweight to carry
  • Durable and waterproof
I think we have a winner! Painting our recycling bins with the students, in creative designs and using eco-friendly paints. University students at Lewisham held a recycling "eco-fare" with some lovely hand-painted bins. This is it, this is what we'll do at our mosque. I can buy three metal bins from a hardware store and for our next recycling lesson we'll paint them! Insha-Allah.

Make du`a we do well!

Peace + eco-jihad.
Zaufishan, The Eco Muslim

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