Legal & data
This page explains which personal data Rethink & Reuse collects when you use this website, why we collect it, how long we keep it, and how you can ask us to correct or remove it.
Rethink & Reuse operates this website at rethinkandreuse.co.uk. We publish practical writing for UK households on zero waste living, low waste home habits, and creative upcycling ideas, and we publish a newsletter and reply to reader questions by email.
This privacy notice describes what personal data we handle, where it comes from, how long it stays with us, and what you can ask us to do with it. It covers the whole site, including our guides on the zero waste starter kit, zero waste kitchen swaps, and composting food scraps at home, and it covers messages you send us through the contact form or by email.
It does not cover other websites we mention or link to. When you follow a link to a supplier, a charity, or a council recycling service, that organisation becomes the data controller for anything you do there, and its own privacy notice applies.
We keep the list short on purpose. Everything below either comes from you directly or is generated automatically when a browser loads a page on this site.
When you write to us through the contact page or by email, we receive your name, your email address, and whatever you put in the message. If you are asking about a specific project, such as how to upcycle glass jars or where to find plastic free food storage near you, your message may also mention your town or the shop you use. We only hold what you choose to type.
Our web server records the IP address a request came from, the browser and device type, the date and time, and which pages were requested. These logs exist so the site stays online and so we can spot automated abuse. They are not used to build a profile of you.
Some cookies are set before you send us anything at all, simply because a page was loaded. You can read the categories, what each one does, and how to switch them off on the cookie policy page.
There is no account on this site, so we hold no password, no payment card details, and no purchase history. We do not run advertising profiles, buy contact lists, or match your email address against third-party databases. If a supplier mentioned in an upcycling or sustainable shopping guide asks for details, that request comes from them and you deal with their notice, not ours.
Each piece of data has one job. If we cannot name the job, we do not keep the data.
Retention & sharing
Nothing is kept indefinitely by default. When a period ends, the data is removed as part of routine housekeeping rather than stored somewhere else.
If you want a message removed sooner than the periods below, you can ask, and we will action the request where the law allows.
| Data | Typical period | Reason it exists |
|---|---|---|
| Email enquiries | Kept while the query and any follow-up are open, then cleared in routine reviews | Replying to you |
| Server logs | A limited period, after which older entries are deleted | Security and diagnostics |
| Cookie records | For as long as each cookie is set to last; you can clear them at any time in your browser | Basic functionality and page statistics |
| Hosting records | Held by our hosting provider under its own retention terms | Running and maintaining the site |
We do not sell personal data. Data may be processed by service providers who host or maintain the site, such as our web host and email provider, and may be disclosed where the law requires it. Where third-party services are used, they process data under their own terms, and we choose providers that state how long they retain it.
Cookies on this site
This site uses cookies for basic functionality and to understand how pages are used. Most readers will only ever encounter two kinds: the small set that keeps the site working, and the ones that count page views so we know which guides are useful.
Details on the categories of cookies, what they do, and how to control them are set out on the cookie policy page.
Category one
These remember choices the site needs to function, such as your cookie preference itself. They cannot be switched off through our settings because the site would not behave correctly without them.
Category two
These show which pages are read and roughly where readers arrive from. The numbers are aggregated, so they tell us that a guide on plastic free alternatives was popular this month, not who read it.
Your control
You can change your mind at any time in the banner shown on your first visit, or through your browser settings, where cookies can be reviewed and deleted individually. Blocking the essential set may make parts of the site behave oddly, and blocking statistics cookies simply means your visit is not counted.
You can ask what personal data we hold about you, request a copy, ask for corrections, or request deletion where the law allows. There is no charge, and we will confirm what we have done. To make a request, use the contact details on the contact page or write to [email protected].
Send a request to [email protected] from the address you used before, if you still have it. Say that you are asking about your personal data and tell us roughly when you wrote. We will search our contact records and reply with what we hold, or confirm that we hold nothing at all.
Yes. Reply to our message or send a new one asking for it to be removed, and we will delete it where the law allows. There is one honest limit: if a request is part of a live security or legal matter, we may need to keep it until that matter closes, and we will tell you if that applies.
Only as general subject matter. A reader asking about sustainable home essentials might prompt a piece on that topic, but we write it ourselves in general terms. We do not publish your name, your email address, or the wording of your message without asking you first and getting a clear yes.
It may be updated to reflect changes in the site or the law. When that happens, this page is replaced with the new wording, and the version published here is the one that applies. If a change affects how we handle contact messages, we will say so plainly rather than leaving it to be discovered.
We answer data requests and reader questions the same way: personally, by email, during working hours. If you are unsure whether something counts as personal data, ask and we will tell you what we hold.
Site operator
Rethink & Reuse
42 Bramley Road, London, N14 4HR
Email and phone
[email protected]
+44 20 7946 0731
Working hours
Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM. Requests sent outside these hours are read on the next working day.
This policy may be updated to reflect changes in the site or the law. The current version is the one published on this page. Each revision replaces the last, so the date you see here is the date the wording took effect.
