If you have any old or broken jewellery, coins, watches or other items made from gold or other precious metals now is a great time to get rid of them online in return for a large cash payment.

The price of gold rose substantially last year and at the moment is currently at £24/gram for 24 carat and £9/gram for 9 carat. As many people looks for ways to earn extra income now is a good time to dig out your old gold and other items and sell them for cash.

One great site that offers top prices for gold and jewellery is Money4Gold UK. By selling your old items direct to an online gold refinery and not to a pawn shop or jeweller you are basically cutting out the middleman so more often that not you will get a higher price. Money 4 Gold is a great site as they also offer a ‘Double G Guarantee’ where they guarantee to pay double than other nationally advertised competitors, so if you find a higher payment for the same piece of gold or jewellery they will pay double.

You could even host a gold party which are really starting to take off in the UK. To have a gold party you need to get a group of friends or colleagues to bring their old gold and jewellery, you pay them a price and then sell the old items online. Some money for gold sites will even sign you up as an agent so you can easily pay out the money.

Not only can you earn cash for selling gold but you will also be helping the planet by helping to stop so much gold ore from being mined in the future.

Request your free G-Pak (Gold Pack) and get cash for your old jewellery here.

According to the latest figures from the European Aluminium Association (EAA) the recycling rate for aluminium cans in the EU has risen by 5.4% in the last two years to hit 63%.

The United Kingdom has an aluminium can recycling rate of 51%. The country that recycles the most cans is Germany with a rate of 96% by using the Green Dot Scheme which means that the manufacturers contribute to the cost of recovery and recycling. The countries that recycle the least are Romania and Bulgaria with a rate of just 34% even though they also use the Green Dot Scheme.

It is believed that waste management operators and local councils are becoming more aware of the value of aluminium cans which has led to the increase in investment in recycling and sorting techniques.

Given the current system in the UK an aluminium can recycling rate of 51% is fairly good and its very likely that when the 2009 figures are released later this year they will have increased further.

Coca-Cola UK has recently partnered with Recyclebank to offer people vouchers off their products for recycling household waste.

The Royal Boroughs of Windsor and Maidenhead will be the first to take part in the scheme from June this year. 60,000 households in these areas will get points for recycling their waste which can then be redeemed for £1 off a range of Coca-Cola products.

Citizenship Manager of Coca-Cola UK, Liz Lowe said “As well as ensuring we recycle our own waste as a business, we are committed to encouraging our consumers to recycle theirs.”

Recent Recyclebank trials in the UK have proven that by offering incentives to households more people will recycle their everyday waste. The Recyclebank pilot scheme which ran in 2009 involving 6500 households saw 70% activate their rewards account and more than 5 million points earned giving discounts at more than 100 shops, leisure centres, attractions, restaurants and charities.

The Daily Mirror newspaper has recently launched a new gadget recycling website, the first of its kind in the UK in partnership with ShP Ltd, one of Europe’s biggest electronic product recycling companies.

The new site allows people to recycle laptops, mobile phones, MP3 players, iPods and Sat Navs in return for cash payments paid either directly to a UK bank account or sent via cheque. The site aims to help people earn some extra cash for old household items and become more environmentally responsible.

The prices that are offered for old electronic devices at MirrorGoGreen are based on the condition that they are in. If 5 or more items are sent in for recycling or a laptop then a free courier collection is offered as standard.

Head of Commercial Partnerships at Mirror Group Newspapers Digital, Jonathan Bury said: “This is an exciting launch for us, Mirrorgogreen will help to push the Mirror brand forward, giving something back to readers, while also helping the environment. We are delighted to be the first national newspaper to launch this type of online recycling website.”

Recycle your old laptops, mobiles, MP3 players or Sat Navs at MirrorGoGreen here

Boots the popular high street chemist has recently expand their recycling site to allow users to recycle not only mobile phones but also digital cameras, SAT NAVs, printer ink cartridges, iPods and MP3 players.

Boots Recycle does not pay in cash but instead pays in Advantage Points which are added to your Boots card and can be used to buy any items in Boot’s shops.

To start recycling your old devices simply visit the Boots Recycle site and type in the model of the device you want to sell. Like any other recycling site Boots will send you a pre-paid envelope in which to return your items in. Alternatively an envelope can be picked up from any Boot’s store. Once received they will be checked over and the Advantage card points will be added to your card within 30 days.

Not only can you get some extra points for your Boots card for recycling here but also for every electronic device that is sent in £1 will be donated to charity.#

Recycle your old electronic devices at Boots Recycle here

According to environmental organisation, the Green Alliance cheap energy from waste could help the UK meet nearly half its renewable energy targets by 2020.

A spokeswoman for the group said that creating alternative energy from the UK’s waste could be a great way to produce more renewable energy. She added that using Nritain’s waste for energy would only come after the right levels of waste reuse, recycling and prevention have been done.

However residual waste should not be seen as a given and lots more effort should still be made to reduce landfill levels in the UK.

This latest news follows last months announcement by the government about the introduction of the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC EES). This scheme will see organisations play an important role in helping to cut the UK’s carbon emissions. The aim of the CRC EES is to see businesses improve their energy efficiency and achieve a reduction of 34% on the amount generated in 1990 by 2020.

A brand new site has recently been launched called Trade Your Games which allows users to sell their unwanted console games, consoles and Blu-Rays for cash payments. Although this has been done before on other sites, Trade Your Games is unique and the only site in the UK where users can sell games for credit to buy games off the same site just like on the high street.

The site was created as it was found that there was very few other websites that made the process of buying and selling console games easy online. As well as making the process of selling video games simple and easy, their prices are as much as 40% higher than on the high street.

Currently you can sell or trade in games from many consoles including the Playstation 3, PSP, Xbox, Nintendo Gamecube, Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii. TradeYourGames also have a huge range of pre-owned and new video games, Blu-Rays and console that you can buy or part exchange.

If you want to sell your old games for cash payments then it will be sent directly to your bank account, Paypal or via cheque once your items have been received and tested.

Sell or Part Exchange your Unwanted Games, Consoles and Blue-Rays at TradeYourGames here

According to the latest recycling figures to come out of one of Scotland’s biggest cities, Edinburgh it has been found one in five local residents are still putting their rubbish in the bin for it to end up at landfill.

The thing that is more worrying after many years of information campaigns and messages on recycling is that the younger generation have been found to be the worst culprits. This is extremely surprising as young people are commonly associated with an understanding of green issues.

A local council report in Edinburgh found that 28% of people aged 18 to 29 don’t recycle their waste at all. This maybe due to the fact that they feel that at that age they have much more fun things to do with their time.

Edinburgh has recently revealed plans to start kerbside pick-ups for plastic to try and help boot recycling rates. More recycling services will also start in the city in the coming years in order to help meet tough targets.

Within 15 years every local authority in the country must be recycling 70% of waste and cut the amount going to landfill by 5%. If local councils don’t hit these targets then financial penalties will be imposed which will be bad news for everyone who pays council tax.

Recycle your old mobile phones and digital cameras here.

According to a recent poll carried out by one of the UK’s biggest mobile recycling sites, Envirofone it has been found that the average household contains £110 worth of unwanted electrical gadgets including mobile phones, MP3 players, CD and DVD players, laptops, games consoles and digital cameras.

The total value of all this electrical equipment that is being stashed in people’s homes adds up to a staggering £28 billion. In light of the current economic climate if people were to sell their unwanted gadgets at recycling sites or even car boot sales they could quickly and easily earn some extra cash for themselves.

A lot of the old equipment in people’s homes will comprise of unwanted Christmas presents or items that have since been upgraded to a better model. Envirofone says that over a million tonnes of unwanted electrical items were put in the bin last year alone.

With all the recycling facilities, websites and government regulations in the UK its surprising that a third of all electrical items in people’s homes are still expected to end up at landfill. Electrical items contain both valuable and hazardous materials which should never end up at landfill.

Have you got old electrical items to sell? Recycle your old mp3 players, iPods, mobile phones, digital cameras or games consoles for cash here.