More than 30 million inkjet cartridges (the same weight as eighteen blue whales!) and 2 million toner cartridges are dumped each year in the UK. Most could be reused, remanufactured or recycled.

When buying a printer, choose one that uses cartridges that can easily be refilled.

Think before you print! Reducing the amount you print will save the amount of ink you use, and therefore the number cartridges that you need.

Did you know you can refill ink cartridges yourself? It’s not as difficult as you might think. You can buy refill kits from several organisations and supermarkets in store or online.

You can use these instructions as a general guide: http://www.wikihow.com/Refill-and-Reuse-a-Printer-Cartridge.

• Most toner and inkjet cartridges can also be refilled at shops such as:

    Capital Cartridges

     W: http://www.capitalcartridges.co.uk/; T: 0131 557 3557 (Edinburgh); T: 01506 636633 (Bathgate)

     31 Elm Row, Edinburgh, EH7 4AH

    Smart Cartridge

    W: http://www.smart-cartridge.com/page/view/155/about-us; T:01506 862211

    3 W Main St, Uphall, Broxburn EH52 5DN

    Inkcredible

    T:0131 555 04000

    13 Portland Gardens, Edinburgh, EH6 6LA

• For other local contacts try www.yell.com under 'Computer Consumables'.

• Lots of charity shops have collection facilities for used ink cartridges from which they can fundraise, see CHARITY SHOPS.

• For other places you can drop your cartridges, such as supermarkets, check out Recycle for Scotland’s Recycling Locator.

• Stinkyink.com offer a freepost service for recycling empty ink cartridges and have a list of the official branded cartridge recycling schemes available. Unfortunately they do not recycle toner cartridges. W: https://www.stinkyinkshop.co.uk/pages/recycling-empty-cartridges

• The Recycling Factory collects and recycles over 8 million inkjet & toner cartridges each year. Schools, individuals, businesses and charities can all use the service.

     T: 0800 091 0696; E: info@trf-uk.com; W: http://www.therecyclingfactory.com/about/

• Changeworks Recycling offers an ink and toner cartridge recycling service for businesses.

    T: 0800 694 0158 E: info@changeworksrecycling.co.uk W:www.changeworksrecycling.co.uk