Thanks to David at Sustained Magazine for sharing this video with me (he's cool and so is the magazine!)
Somehow David knew I would be interested in worm poop and I thought you would be too.
The featured video focuses on a US company called TerraCycle, which is innovative in its Zero Waste product development model. The company uses waste rather than creates it.
What I particularly love about its Worm Poop product is that it is packaged in plastic bottles that have been collected and re-used (not recycled). This means that the products come in all shapes and sizes and not some standardised bottle shape...and there lies the beauty of a manufacturing process that fits our contemporary world.
The CEO, Tom Szaky, writes the Eco-Capitalist blog at Inc.com, where he promotes the benefits of breaking away from the traditional business model. For anyone else considering Zero Waste manufacturing opportunities, it really is worth a look.
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Video Week: Earth Friendly Moving
If you are thinking of moving house, wouldn't it be great to find a company that offered a zero waste sustainable solution! Well there is one company in the form of Earth Friendly Moving, which appears to offer such services in the United States. If anyone knows of a UK equivalent, then please feel free to share. For more info, visit www.earthfriendlymoving.com
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Video Week: 17 ways to recycle your electronic waste
This one is just for fun, but at the same time highlights a more serious issue, about which further information can be found at the links that are listed below the video.
I hope you enjoy the video and see if you can spot the Camera Phone. My particular favourites are the coffee machine and the shrinkwrapped elephant - pure genius!
To find out more about recycling electronic waste, please take a look at:
Wikipedia: Electronic Waste
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-waste
BBC: Mechanics of e-waste recycling
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6254816.stm
Swiss e-waste Guide: a knowledgebase for the sustainable recycling of e-waste
http://ewasteguide.info/
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I hope you enjoy the video and see if you can spot the Camera Phone. My particular favourites are the coffee machine and the shrinkwrapped elephant - pure genius!
To find out more about recycling electronic waste, please take a look at:
Wikipedia: Electronic Waste
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-waste
BBC: Mechanics of e-waste recycling
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6254816.stm
Swiss e-waste Guide: a knowledgebase for the sustainable recycling of e-waste
http://ewasteguide.info/
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Video Week: Zero Waste Hotel
If you're in the U.S. and happen to be in the vicinity of Boulder, Colorado, then it's worth checking out the Boulder Outlook Hotel, which happens to run on Zero Waste principles. You can see how they manage it in the following You Tube video. It is something that I would dearly like to see in the UK, so if you know of any such organisations locally, please let me know as I would love to feature them.
For those who are wondering, The City of Boulder is located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and apparently is known for "its natural beauty, outdoor recreation, natural product retailers and restaurants, outstanding alternative transportation options, diverse businesses, and technological and academic resources". Sounds great doesn't it! For further information, check out the City of Boulder website.
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For those who are wondering, The City of Boulder is located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and apparently is known for "its natural beauty, outdoor recreation, natural product retailers and restaurants, outstanding alternative transportation options, diverse businesses, and technological and academic resources". Sounds great doesn't it! For further information, check out the City of Boulder website.
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Video Week: The Story of Stuff
As this is Half Term and I am out having fun with the kids (in the rain), I am declaring this The Rubbish Diet Video Week. Every day I will be publishing a video clip, some of which have been sent in by readers.
It's easy blogging material I know, but I won't have much access to the PC this week and will save any special anecdotes for when the kids are back at school.
So without further ado, I would like to introduce the The Story of Stuff, which has been circulating the Internet for months. If you haven't seen it, it makes excellent viewing, particularly with regard to the waste cycle. The following clip is just an introduction, but you can see the full story at www.storyofstuff.com.
Thanks to John at Interred for the suggestion.
__________________________________________________________
It's easy blogging material I know, but I won't have much access to the PC this week and will save any special anecdotes for when the kids are back at school.
So without further ado, I would like to introduce the The Story of Stuff, which has been circulating the Internet for months. If you haven't seen it, it makes excellent viewing, particularly with regard to the waste cycle. The following clip is just an introduction, but you can see the full story at www.storyofstuff.com.
Thanks to John at Interred for the suggestion.
__________________________________________________________
The power of NO and other preparations
Yay - Half Term has arrived!
This means a whole week of pleasure and pain, adventures and scuffles, fun and boredom and requests coming out of my ears for this, that and the other!
BUT THIS TIME I AM PREPARED!
Yes, I am prepared to occupy the enemy territory and distract the troops into submission.
It's simple really.
As well as my often-used phrase..."not on your nelly", there's a simple technique I can recommend.
It all starts with just one word....
"NO!"
It's a pretty small word but for parents it can be one of the hardest to say, especially when you're being brow-beaten by the nag, nag, nag of little voices, which possess the tenacity of a dog with a bone!
However, if you are committed to slimming your bin, it is one of the most powerful words you can use.
When I started The Rubbish Diet, I began to think more about the rubbish that the kids would bring into the house and consequently throw in the bin at some point or other. There would be the tacky toys from Happy Meals and Kinder Eggs, the other free stuff that comes with magazines as well as the souvenirs from a day out at the seaside, zoo or some other attraction.
How much tat does a kid really need?
Anyway, I am now becoming well rehearsed in the performance of "NO" and believe me it can really turn into showtime when faced with the Junior Posse on a mission.
The great thing about this little word, is that is can be delivered in a whole manner of ways, that help distract from the initial request itself!
These suggestions may be a bit "tongue-in-cheek", but they work as great diversion tactics for me:
"No!" - Straight and to the point. Try it in different languages if you like...variety is said to be the spice of life and the odd Na, Nein or Non will soon tone up your linguistic skills. You can even distract the little imps with a game of "guess the language". Try this list for size, you could find yourself becoming assertive in 520 languages! I've only managed to add about 5 to my own repertoire, but it's enough!
"N.O. spells no" - Perfect for reinforcing spelling to a three year old and is also useful if you want to regress to your own childhood. However, these days with phonetics, it should perhaps be delivered as 'Nuh - O' for full educational effect, with the O being pronounced as if saying the word 'off'. But remember... no swearing please, as this is not the time for teaching advanced synonyms.
"The Computer Says No!" - Just like Carol says in Little Britain and perfect for teenagers! It can easily be modified for little ones to "Mummy says no", "Daddy says no" and wait for it ..... as we get closer to the festive holidays... how about "Father Christmas says no!" It's about time that man in the festive red suit started to take some responsibility for so much stuff that ends up in landfill! Oh dear, that's going to make me sound like a scrooge. But in the words of Catherine Tate...."Am I bovvered?" Er....No!
And last but not least is my favourite, which I have borrowed from my dear friend Ruby, which comes in the form of...
"How 'bout... No!". Best delivered in a Yorkshire accent, it has a sense of finality in a 'not another word' kind of way.
Does that make me sound like a tough cookie?
Well, I'm not really, just pretty average and I still let them have some treats. The difference is that these days they are always very considered, with particular thought given to the amount of subsequent waste resulting from the purchase.
All it means is that I either refuse to buy something or look for a sensible alternative.
Take this book for example...
I discovered it a few days ago and thought it would be a fab buy for half-term. At £10 it's not the cheapest treat, especially as you could get about four kids' magazines for your money, but this book has got a much longer shelf-life and doesn't come with freebie tat! I know it's something that we'll have around for ages and once used will be kept as a momento.
The idea is a simple one in that it encourages the children to draw and use their imaginations to complete the pictures. I fell in love with it because it is much easier than starting off with a blank page and with very simple instructions it will also give my eldest some practice in reinforcing his reading skills.
However, if you'd rather not spend a tenner, there's no reason why you can't save a few pounds, grab some paper and draw a few "starters for 10" yourself.
You don't need to be an artistic genius to sketch something simple like a pair of underpants! Draw as many as you like, copy your work of art for your friends if you fancy and see who can design the best pair! Now that's a half-term activity for which you don't even need kids! Just for fun, why not go the whole hog and email me your designs and I'll create a Pants Gallery to show off your talents!
The other strategy for half-term is to be prepared for all those snack attacks. I've got my toolkit ready, which consists of drinks bottles (to avoid those ikky soft drinks), some re-usable containers (to fill with lots of lovely fruit) and a cool lunchbox, to make it all easy to carry around, whilst on our adventures. We've even got flasks and drinks bottles for us grown ups.
As well as our regular supply of fresh fruit, I've got myself prepared for half-term madness with some other treats, that come in the form of sweeties. This should avoid any weak-willed moments of buying little packets from the shops.
At the beginning of the week, I popped into our local sweet shop and bought a selection, all of which were weighed and popped into a little paper bag. I thought these would be great for rationing throughout the week and avoided any plastic packaging that couldn't be recycled!
The only problem is that my own sweet tooth got in the way and I ate them all.
The children never even got a look in!
It's a good job that while visiting London yesterday, I happened across a fantastic sweet shop called Hope and Greenwood in Covent Garden. Just going in there was a treat in itself!
I promise, the sweets still remain untouched and will be rationed out accordingly!
Anyway, as you can guess, I won't be around much next week. However, I've made sure that I've still got a few treats lined up for the blog. So do pop by for some audio-visual insights into the world of rubbish.
Perhaps the biggest treat of all, is to see how Ruby's coming on in her own rubbish challenge. The girl's doing well and I really encourage you to visit her blog for her latest updates on the arrival of her brown bin and how she ditched her packaging at Waitrose. She reveals all at: http://rubysrubbishblog.blogspot.com/
So as Half Term commences, wish me luck. Call it a practice run for the summer holidays if you like.
I hope you enjoy your own Half Term. And if you haven't got kids, at least make the most of the quieter roads!
See you soon!
____________________________________________________________
This means a whole week of pleasure and pain, adventures and scuffles, fun and boredom and requests coming out of my ears for this, that and the other!
BUT THIS TIME I AM PREPARED!
Yes, I am prepared to occupy the enemy territory and distract the troops into submission.
It's simple really.
As well as my often-used phrase..."not on your nelly", there's a simple technique I can recommend.
It all starts with just one word....
"NO!"
It's a pretty small word but for parents it can be one of the hardest to say, especially when you're being brow-beaten by the nag, nag, nag of little voices, which possess the tenacity of a dog with a bone!
However, if you are committed to slimming your bin, it is one of the most powerful words you can use.
When I started The Rubbish Diet, I began to think more about the rubbish that the kids would bring into the house and consequently throw in the bin at some point or other. There would be the tacky toys from Happy Meals and Kinder Eggs, the other free stuff that comes with magazines as well as the souvenirs from a day out at the seaside, zoo or some other attraction.
How much tat does a kid really need?
Anyway, I am now becoming well rehearsed in the performance of "NO" and believe me it can really turn into showtime when faced with the Junior Posse on a mission.
The great thing about this little word, is that is can be delivered in a whole manner of ways, that help distract from the initial request itself!
These suggestions may be a bit "tongue-in-cheek", but they work as great diversion tactics for me:
"No!" - Straight and to the point. Try it in different languages if you like...variety is said to be the spice of life and the odd Na, Nein or Non will soon tone up your linguistic skills. You can even distract the little imps with a game of "guess the language". Try this list for size, you could find yourself becoming assertive in 520 languages! I've only managed to add about 5 to my own repertoire, but it's enough!
"N.O. spells no" - Perfect for reinforcing spelling to a three year old and is also useful if you want to regress to your own childhood. However, these days with phonetics, it should perhaps be delivered as 'Nuh - O' for full educational effect, with the O being pronounced as if saying the word 'off'. But remember... no swearing please, as this is not the time for teaching advanced synonyms.
"The Computer Says No!" - Just like Carol says in Little Britain and perfect for teenagers! It can easily be modified for little ones to "Mummy says no", "Daddy says no" and wait for it ..... as we get closer to the festive holidays... how about "Father Christmas says no!" It's about time that man in the festive red suit started to take some responsibility for so much stuff that ends up in landfill! Oh dear, that's going to make me sound like a scrooge. But in the words of Catherine Tate...."Am I bovvered?" Er....No!
And last but not least is my favourite, which I have borrowed from my dear friend Ruby, which comes in the form of...
"How 'bout... No!". Best delivered in a Yorkshire accent, it has a sense of finality in a 'not another word' kind of way.
Does that make me sound like a tough cookie?
Well, I'm not really, just pretty average and I still let them have some treats. The difference is that these days they are always very considered, with particular thought given to the amount of subsequent waste resulting from the purchase.
All it means is that I either refuse to buy something or look for a sensible alternative.
Take this book for example...
I discovered it a few days ago and thought it would be a fab buy for half-term. At £10 it's not the cheapest treat, especially as you could get about four kids' magazines for your money, but this book has got a much longer shelf-life and doesn't come with freebie tat! I know it's something that we'll have around for ages and once used will be kept as a momento.
The idea is a simple one in that it encourages the children to draw and use their imaginations to complete the pictures. I fell in love with it because it is much easier than starting off with a blank page and with very simple instructions it will also give my eldest some practice in reinforcing his reading skills.
However, if you'd rather not spend a tenner, there's no reason why you can't save a few pounds, grab some paper and draw a few "starters for 10" yourself.
You don't need to be an artistic genius to sketch something simple like a pair of underpants! Draw as many as you like, copy your work of art for your friends if you fancy and see who can design the best pair! Now that's a half-term activity for which you don't even need kids! Just for fun, why not go the whole hog and email me your designs and I'll create a Pants Gallery to show off your talents!
The other strategy for half-term is to be prepared for all those snack attacks. I've got my toolkit ready, which consists of drinks bottles (to avoid those ikky soft drinks), some re-usable containers (to fill with lots of lovely fruit) and a cool lunchbox, to make it all easy to carry around, whilst on our adventures. We've even got flasks and drinks bottles for us grown ups.
As well as our regular supply of fresh fruit, I've got myself prepared for half-term madness with some other treats, that come in the form of sweeties. This should avoid any weak-willed moments of buying little packets from the shops.
At the beginning of the week, I popped into our local sweet shop and bought a selection, all of which were weighed and popped into a little paper bag. I thought these would be great for rationing throughout the week and avoided any plastic packaging that couldn't be recycled!
The only problem is that my own sweet tooth got in the way and I ate them all.
The children never even got a look in!
It's a good job that while visiting London yesterday, I happened across a fantastic sweet shop called Hope and Greenwood in Covent Garden. Just going in there was a treat in itself!
I promise, the sweets still remain untouched and will be rationed out accordingly!
Anyway, as you can guess, I won't be around much next week. However, I've made sure that I've still got a few treats lined up for the blog. So do pop by for some audio-visual insights into the world of rubbish.
Perhaps the biggest treat of all, is to see how Ruby's coming on in her own rubbish challenge. The girl's doing well and I really encourage you to visit her blog for her latest updates on the arrival of her brown bin and how she ditched her packaging at Waitrose. She reveals all at: http://rubysrubbishblog.blogspot.com/
So as Half Term commences, wish me luck. Call it a practice run for the summer holidays if you like.
I hope you enjoy your own Half Term. And if you haven't got kids, at least make the most of the quieter roads!
See you soon!
____________________________________________________________
Almost Mrs Averages leaves Suffolk!
NOW THAT'S A HEADLINE THAT WOULDN'T SELL NEWSPAPERS!
But yes, the news is that I'm getting out of town today and even venturing out of the region.
Destination LONDON! The UK capital of the freebie paper.
One of my memories of working in London during the nineties was how the tube trains were often used as surrogate recycling bins, with newspapers abandoned on the seats, the floors and even tucked away near the windows. The buses were no better!
I wonder if anything has changed, particularly in light of new titles that have since been launched. If my memory serves me well, we only had the Metro at the time. Since then, there have been a range of new titles, including thelondonpaper and London Lite, which were both launched in 2006.
There is a list of current London newspapers on the Wikipedia site but if you look at the above photo, there are obviously many others that aren't accounted for.
I have read that following the launch of thelondonpaper and London Lite, Associated Newspapers and News International agreed to pay for 64 recycling bins, in an attempt to manage an estimated extra 1,000 tonnes of waste resulting from their distribution. Now that really is a lot of wastage and makes me very glad that our little town of Bury St Edmunds only has two weekly freebies!
I wonder if I'll spot one of those bins today, hardly a major tourist attraction I know!
Anyway, I'll soon find out...and if I can track down a free wi-fi hotspot (suggestions welcome), I'll publish the photos later on. (An opportunity to blog from London....how exciting!)
So, it's a case of HELLO LONDON...and without further ado, let the rubbish tour begin.
P.S. Take a look at the creative designs that promote the message of recycling on the London Lite site. http://www.thelondonlite.co.uk/advertising/recycling.html. My favourite is the Tower of London version. How cruel of me!
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ADDENDUM
_________________________________________________
It's almost 6pm and I'm still in London, having a fab time.
I've seen some rubbish bins and the odd freebie paper, but I've been rather distracted by loads of other things:
....including buying some strange fruit in Harrods and refusing the carrier bag. Yes, refusing a Harrods carrier bag, in preference of using my own! I bet that's quite unheard of!
But do I really need a bag that says I can afford to shop in Harrods?
NO! I don't...
...especially as I can't afford much more than some opulent fruit from the even more opulent Food Hall.
Later, I was also distracted by the fact that it's my uncle's birthday tomorrow and I'd forgotten to buy a card...so with Paperchase on hand, I quickly popped in for an emergency purchase.
But could I find a card that didn't come in one of those unnecessary plastic wrappers? Could I heck! So I plumped for a 60p cheery postcard instead! So much cheaper and much less waste...
And now...onto my final distraction. Before I head back to Sleepy Suffolk, I'm spending the last hour with my lovely friend Ruby, indulging in my favourite restaurant...the very opulent Sarastro on Drury Lane. It's the place where I had my 30th birthday celebrations and celebrated my hen-night, so is very close to my heart
And if it's a choice between documenting bins at Kings Cross or "indulging" in Sarasto's with a very decent meal for just £12.50, you can bet the restaurant wins hands-down!
But don't worry...there's always time for bins later...because with my new lifestyle, Almost Mrs Average can never take a day off!
ADDENDUM
_________________________________________________
It's almost 6pm and I'm still in London, having a fab time.
I've seen some rubbish bins and the odd freebie paper, but I've been rather distracted by loads of other things:
....including buying some strange fruit in Harrods and refusing the carrier bag. Yes, refusing a Harrods carrier bag, in preference of using my own! I bet that's quite unheard of!
But do I really need a bag that says I can afford to shop in Harrods?
NO! I don't...
...especially as I can't afford much more than some opulent fruit from the even more opulent Food Hall.
Later, I was also distracted by the fact that it's my uncle's birthday tomorrow and I'd forgotten to buy a card...so with Paperchase on hand, I quickly popped in for an emergency purchase.
But could I find a card that didn't come in one of those unnecessary plastic wrappers? Could I heck! So I plumped for a 60p cheery postcard instead! So much cheaper and much less waste...
And now...onto my final distraction. Before I head back to Sleepy Suffolk, I'm spending the last hour with my lovely friend Ruby, indulging in my favourite restaurant...the very opulent Sarastro on Drury Lane. It's the place where I had my 30th birthday celebrations and celebrated my hen-night, so is very close to my heart
And if it's a choice between documenting bins at Kings Cross or "indulging" in Sarasto's with a very decent meal for just £12.50, you can bet the restaurant wins hands-down!
But don't worry...there's always time for bins later...because with my new lifestyle, Almost Mrs Average can never take a day off!
________________________________________________________
The Experimental Kitchen
Welcome to my experimental kitchen.
I know it looks pretty small and it really is this tiny.
This photo shows only half the room. The other half is about the same size.
It comes straight out of the comic book of modern house-building, which for a family of four, can only be out-done by marketing literature for London bedsits.
I used to think our kitchen was too small for proper baking, but since getting rid of the microwave and recently off-loading the breadmaker on Freecycle, I am grateful for the extra space.
And believe me, that's welcome space in which I can happily don my imaginary white coat and turn into the mad scientist that I become when faced with an ordinary bag of flour. All for the cause of reduced packaging!
However, after my recent successes in home-baking, I feel that I should be a responsible blogger and dispel any myths that I could successfully challenge Nigella in the royal court of domestic godessdom.
In all honesty, I feel more like Dr Frankenstein than a Domestic Goddess.
Take yesterday's experiment with Quiche Lorraine for example. I was suitably encouraged by Kate's comments on my Apple Pie post, so dug out an old recipe that's been knocking around since my college days.
Perhaps I should be ashamed to admit that it looked more like burnt pizza! Surely you'd expect something better from a woman bordering on 40 years of age. Personally I blame it on the old cheese and too much heat but do forgive me if that sounds like the onset of early menopause.
At least the culinary version of Frankenstein's Monster was more appetizing to the tastebuds than its visual appeal. It got the thumbs up from our resident food critic, aka Mr A, who even went back for seconds.
So perhaps my continued experiments with pastry have been worthwhile after all. I am even convinced that pastry-making is ready for a fashionable comeback.
And if that's the case, maybe I should consider a kitchen extension?
With a bigger space, who knows what I might achieve!
___________________________________________________
I know it looks pretty small and it really is this tiny.
This photo shows only half the room. The other half is about the same size.
It comes straight out of the comic book of modern house-building, which for a family of four, can only be out-done by marketing literature for London bedsits.
I used to think our kitchen was too small for proper baking, but since getting rid of the microwave and recently off-loading the breadmaker on Freecycle, I am grateful for the extra space.
And believe me, that's welcome space in which I can happily don my imaginary white coat and turn into the mad scientist that I become when faced with an ordinary bag of flour. All for the cause of reduced packaging!
However, after my recent successes in home-baking, I feel that I should be a responsible blogger and dispel any myths that I could successfully challenge Nigella in the royal court of domestic godessdom.
In all honesty, I feel more like Dr Frankenstein than a Domestic Goddess.
Take yesterday's experiment with Quiche Lorraine for example. I was suitably encouraged by Kate's comments on my Apple Pie post, so dug out an old recipe that's been knocking around since my college days.
Perhaps I should be ashamed to admit that it looked more like burnt pizza! Surely you'd expect something better from a woman bordering on 40 years of age. Personally I blame it on the old cheese and too much heat but do forgive me if that sounds like the onset of early menopause.
At least the culinary version of Frankenstein's Monster was more appetizing to the tastebuds than its visual appeal. It got the thumbs up from our resident food critic, aka Mr A, who even went back for seconds.
So perhaps my continued experiments with pastry have been worthwhile after all. I am even convinced that pastry-making is ready for a fashionable comeback.
And if that's the case, maybe I should consider a kitchen extension?
With a bigger space, who knows what I might achieve!
___________________________________________________
Kids 'n' Crap!
Oh heck. It’s half-term next week!
Just when you think everything’s going smoothly and all very tickety-boo, school shuts down for a week and all hell lets loose.
Don’t get me wrong, I actually love school holidays.
I love the fact that we can stay in our pyjamas until at least 9 o’clock. I love the fun that we have as a family, exploring new things and going on new adventures. Most of all, I love the opportunity to relax with the children and ditch many of the rules that are tied to the school-day routine.
But this half-term I am also thinking about my bins, which I now feel need as much protection as our poor cats over the holidays, all of which can easily become targets of boredom. Note MY bins…OUR cats.
On such occasions, my youngest loves nothing better than eating half a banana and bunging the rest in the recycling bin, with skin completely intact.
He doesn’t quite understand the implication of contaminated recyclates. Well, he is still only three years old, so the difference between recycling and general rubbish is not quite his thing yet.
However, he does know about fruit and the compost bin and the fact that I do not like food waste, so my diagnosis on the matter is that he is just being provocative, especially as he always runs to me and announces…
“Banana’s in the bin, banana’s in the bin!” all in the same sing-song voice as “Na na, nanah, na” and sometimes punctuated with an evil "Ha Ha" at the end of his gloat.
Hmmm, maybe he knows more than he’s letting on, and yes if there are any child-psychologists reading, maybe we have got issues!
Anyway apart from bananas being bunged in the wrong bin and other pre-school level frivolities, school holidays always provide another major challenge, especially if we are out and about visiting local attractions.
It's the one that is presented in a little cute voice and which often begins with…
“Mum-meeeeeeeee, can I have ________?”
At this point, please feel free to fill in the blanks with one of the following:
a) A kids' magazine (always accompanied by a cheap free toy)!
b) A useless cheap toy, with an attention-holding attribute of 5 minutes
c) A Kinder Egg (another useless toy encased in a layer of chocolate)
d) Packet of sweets or chocolates in a fiddly plastic bag or film
So often this comes in stereo, the youngest boy bleating in one ear with the eldest barking in the other.
You can only imagine the combined effort when mummy says “No”!
Before I started The Rubbish Diet and began to think seriously about waste, I would be happy to buy many of these things without a second thought. As long as the children had behaved I would happily reward them with a treat if I felt it was deserved!
However, since I’ve realised what short shelf-life all this stuff has and how quickly it becomes useless tat that ends up in landfill, there’s a new catchphrase in town!
It goes something like...“Not on your nelly!”
OK, admittedly the odd thing slips through, but only on rare occasions these days. We now try and think of alternative treats like fitting in an extra bike-ride, inviting a friend around for tea or going on a visit to the cinema.
I just wish that 7 years ago, before childbirth, I knew then what I know now!
Hindsight eh!
If only my antenatal classes had covered a strategy for avoiding useless tat in the first 5 years of childhood, I am sure I would be the proud owner of a lovely uncluttered home and be feeling richer for it. The local landfill site would be much lighter too!
However, the beauty of hindsight is that if it pops up early enough, you can be blessed with an opportunity for change.
So if you’ve got kids, pop by later this week for my personal strategy for a waste-free half-term, bucking the trend that's been around in the Almost Average Household for far too long!
I can't promise miracles, but I can at least try and offer some common sense.
_________________________________________________________
The Mystery Sacks
Well Ruth was nearly there and Fumblina just that bit closer, almost bang on with the location!
The sacks which I talked about last week are for biodegradable waste, all of which can be shredded and processed into soil improver and humus.
They were spotted in and around Stretham in East Cambridgeshire, when visiting my newly-wed friends Mr T and his wife, who as you can see was more than happy to demonstrate the rest of their household recycling facilities.
What a novel way to spend one's first day of wedded bliss eh, rooting through the recycling! (I am sorry Mrs T and feel that I should apologise profusely for the impromptu distraction).
Anyway, at risk of digressing like Ronnie Corbett in full flow...let's get back to the sacks
...and here they are all looking very lovely!
The best thing is that all sorts of stuff can go in them including:
Garden Waste (Grass Cuttings, Leaves, Hedge Trimmings, Twigs, Dead Plants & Flowers and Weeds)
Household Waste (Cardboard, Yellow Pages, Directories and Shredded Paper)
Kitchen Waste (Fruit & Vegetable Peelings, Cooked Foods, Fish & Meat Waste/Bones, Tea Bags & Coffee Grounds, Egg Shells, Stale Bread, Old Fruit & Vegetables).
Their collection is organised by East Cambridgeshire District Council, a member of the RECAP (Recycling in Cambridge and Peterborough) partnership, which won Beacon Status for Waste and Recycling in 2006/2007 and consequently shares information about good practice with other authorities.
Interestingly, where some other local authorities have issues over collecting household waste if bins are too full, East Cambridgeshire doesn't seem to have any problem with the amount of sacks that are left out. As long as the green waste is contained in the official sacks, it will be collected.
So where do all the sacks go?
...to the huge composting vessels at the very eloquently named Waste Management Park in Cambridge no less, which is run by local company Donarbon.
WASTE MANAGEMENT PARK eh...
It sounds all posh doesn't it?
And so it should.
After all, as I am finding out, waste is a very valuable resource that needs to be managed like any other commercial business model and not just buried in the ground.
The park is even family friendly and has an Open Day coming up on Saturday 7th June to promote Recycling and Waste Awareness. If you live nearby and are interested in going along, more information about the free event, which will be opened by Tony Juniper of Friends of the Earth, can be found by calling 01223 861010.
I know it's not quite a trip to Lego land, but with mini-bus tours, opportunities to see the composting vessels and a chance to climb into the cabs of the heavy machinery, it all sounds like a hoot...well for enthusiasts like me that is!
There is even free soil improver available, not to mention the bouncy castle, balloons and face-painting. Hmmm, I think I know where I will be heading on 7th June.
With facilities like this, I bet the people of East Cambridgeshire have very slim rubbish bins indeed.
So if you are thinking about embarking on your own rubbish diet and are coincidentally also planning a move to the East of England, then East Cambridgeshire looks to be a prime candidate as a Rubbish Dieter's hotspot, especially as cooked food, meat and fish can be "recycled" without the aid of a Bokashi bin!
I'm now getting itchy feet.
I wonder what the house prices are like!
______________________________________________________________
The sacks which I talked about last week are for biodegradable waste, all of which can be shredded and processed into soil improver and humus.
They were spotted in and around Stretham in East Cambridgeshire, when visiting my newly-wed friends Mr T and his wife, who as you can see was more than happy to demonstrate the rest of their household recycling facilities.
What a novel way to spend one's first day of wedded bliss eh, rooting through the recycling! (I am sorry Mrs T and feel that I should apologise profusely for the impromptu distraction).
Anyway, at risk of digressing like Ronnie Corbett in full flow...let's get back to the sacks
...and here they are all looking very lovely!
The best thing is that all sorts of stuff can go in them including:
Garden Waste (Grass Cuttings, Leaves, Hedge Trimmings, Twigs, Dead Plants & Flowers and Weeds)
Household Waste (Cardboard, Yellow Pages, Directories and Shredded Paper)
Kitchen Waste (Fruit & Vegetable Peelings, Cooked Foods, Fish & Meat Waste/Bones, Tea Bags & Coffee Grounds, Egg Shells, Stale Bread, Old Fruit & Vegetables).
Their collection is organised by East Cambridgeshire District Council, a member of the RECAP (Recycling in Cambridge and Peterborough) partnership, which won Beacon Status for Waste and Recycling in 2006/2007 and consequently shares information about good practice with other authorities.
Interestingly, where some other local authorities have issues over collecting household waste if bins are too full, East Cambridgeshire doesn't seem to have any problem with the amount of sacks that are left out. As long as the green waste is contained in the official sacks, it will be collected.
So where do all the sacks go?
...to the huge composting vessels at the very eloquently named Waste Management Park in Cambridge no less, which is run by local company Donarbon.
WASTE MANAGEMENT PARK eh...
It sounds all posh doesn't it?
And so it should.
After all, as I am finding out, waste is a very valuable resource that needs to be managed like any other commercial business model and not just buried in the ground.
The park is even family friendly and has an Open Day coming up on Saturday 7th June to promote Recycling and Waste Awareness. If you live nearby and are interested in going along, more information about the free event, which will be opened by Tony Juniper of Friends of the Earth, can be found by calling 01223 861010.
I know it's not quite a trip to Lego land, but with mini-bus tours, opportunities to see the composting vessels and a chance to climb into the cabs of the heavy machinery, it all sounds like a hoot...well for enthusiasts like me that is!
There is even free soil improver available, not to mention the bouncy castle, balloons and face-painting. Hmmm, I think I know where I will be heading on 7th June.
With facilities like this, I bet the people of East Cambridgeshire have very slim rubbish bins indeed.
So if you are thinking about embarking on your own rubbish diet and are coincidentally also planning a move to the East of England, then East Cambridgeshire looks to be a prime candidate as a Rubbish Dieter's hotspot, especially as cooked food, meat and fish can be "recycled" without the aid of a Bokashi bin!
I'm now getting itchy feet.
I wonder what the house prices are like!
______________________________________________________________
Fun Friday!
I spotted lots of these sacks on the roadside while visiting a friend last weekend. The same friend who got married on Friday and celebrated his 40th birthday on Saturday. He certainly knows how to party!
Anyway, as we drove around the area, I couldn't help wonder why there were so many paper sacks sitting on the roadside. At first I thought they could be doorstep potato deliveries, but some people would need to eat a load of chips or mashed potato to get through all those bags!
So, any guesses what these sacks are used for and where in the UK this photo might have been taken. I'd like to say "answers on a postcard" but being conscious of waste, the comments section will do.
There's no prize I'm afraid, but under pressure I could relinquish the empty sack I brought home with me to the first person who guesses correctly.
Happy Weekend!
_________________________________________________________
The Centenary Post
Would you 'Adam and Eve' it! This is the 100th post for The Rubbish Diet, which started just a few months ago in January.
I can't believe it was just four months ago.
It seems much longer than that.
I am also amazed that until this week, I haven't needed to put out the bin for 10 whole weeks (since the weigh-in at the beginning of March).
Before I started the blog, I had to put out the bin every couple of weeks because if I missed a collection there would be trouble...and nobody likes dealing with a backlog of waste!
The only reason I had to put it out this time was because of a polystyrene mishap...
...a tray which came with a meat joint that I picked up from a local farmers' market a couple of weeks ago.
Just one irregularity!
I obviously hadn't washed it out properly and the bin began to smell.
Oh...and there was the dead bird that the cats left on the doorstep....bad cats!
But have a peek at the contents of the bin!
...those bags sitting at the bottom represent 10 weeks of our family's landfill rubbish.
It's a shame to throw it away really (yes, really) as I am confident I could have gone for a whole year without having to put out that bin.
But eh...so little rubbish! That's not a bad way to celebrate the centenary post!
__________________________________________________________
I can't believe it was just four months ago.
It seems much longer than that.
I am also amazed that until this week, I haven't needed to put out the bin for 10 whole weeks (since the weigh-in at the beginning of March).
Before I started the blog, I had to put out the bin every couple of weeks because if I missed a collection there would be trouble...and nobody likes dealing with a backlog of waste!
The only reason I had to put it out this time was because of a polystyrene mishap...
...a tray which came with a meat joint that I picked up from a local farmers' market a couple of weeks ago.
Just one irregularity!
I obviously hadn't washed it out properly and the bin began to smell.
Oh...and there was the dead bird that the cats left on the doorstep....bad cats!
But have a peek at the contents of the bin!
...those bags sitting at the bottom represent 10 weeks of our family's landfill rubbish.
It's a shame to throw it away really (yes, really) as I am confident I could have gone for a whole year without having to put out that bin.
But eh...so little rubbish! That's not a bad way to celebrate the centenary post!
__________________________________________________________
Jumper Jigsaw
I promise I wasn't in a bad mood when I grabbed the sharpest scissors in the house and had a go at this jumper.
It wasn't a revenge attack on Mr A's favourite clothing or anything like that.
It was more of a creative opportunity
Still concerned? Well don't be... it wasn't even his jumper.
It was in fact a long-suffering sweater that has seen good use with our 6 year old and has also been well worn (or rather worn out) by his 3 year old brother. It's been so well worn it's developed a huge hole in the sleeve and my darning skills are not up to much.
Anyway, yesterday morning I found it lurking in a decluttering bag.
It wasn't put there by me...oh no...I prefer the more indecisive approach where seemingly useless things hang around for such a long time, I'm still left wondering what I'm going to do with it a year later!
Decluttering is Mr A's speciality and he is particularly skilled in gathering unwanted items for taking to the dump (or previously landfill) and this particular bag of old clothing was destined for the textile recycling bin at the local household waste centre.
But with a sudden flash of inspiration and a scissors in hand, I took great delight in taking a few snips here and some extra snips there...
...and "Hey Presto"
From one old holey jumper, we now have a tank top!
It needs some sewing around the armholes, but I think even I can manage that.
But why stop there...?
After spotting some tatty old jeans, there was a great opportunity to create a whole new outfit.
All I can say is "my poor children", who knows what they'll think when they're older.
Now that I've got some ideas, there's a huge risk I may even try other things. It could be the start of a whole new hobby!
Perhaps Mr A should be worried. Who knows what might happen to his shirts when he's not looking.
For further inspiration, it's worth checking out the following websites, which offer a range of ideas and advice:
http://artfulparent.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/altering-toddler-clothes-with-funky-chickens/
http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to-mend-clothes.htm
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007/mar/21/fashion/
_____________________________________________________________
Jo Beaufoix's Rubbish Diet Plan
Do you remember the Beaufoix Bin from Mansfield?
The key problem is that it is always full to its 240 litre capacity. On top of that there are often extra bags of rubbish that can't even fit in, which owner Jo Beaufoix has to take to the dump on a regular basis. That all works out at an estimated 260 cubic litres of waste, every fortnight.
This bin needs some help and the aim is to slim it down to around half its size.
Jo kindly provided me with a lot of detail about what goes in her bin and is now ready to tackle her rubbish head-on.
Her Rubbish Diet Plan includes the following recommendations:
SEEK OUT NEW RECYCLING OPPORTUNITIES
One of the priorities of Jo's Rubbish Diet Plan is to reduce the amount of plastic packaging that goes into the landfill bin. As her local recycling facilities aren't as extensive as those in my neck of the woods, this will be a tougher challenge for Jo and her family.
Jo carried out an audit of her rubbish, which revealed that things like margarine tubs and yoghurt pots couldn't be recycled. However, the great news is that as recently as last month, the local council has included these in their recycling facilities, so they can be ticked off the list straight away.
For anyone who attempts to slim their bin, progress like this always offers a sense of relief.
A call to the council today also revealed that as the pots of jellies and some of the sauce pots used by Jo are made of the same material as the yoghurt packaging, these can be added too. All this shows an encouraging start for the Beaufoix household.
Other news is that Tetra Pak recycling has also been available for some time at the local Household Waste Recycling Centre, so these can be dropped off when the family is passing by.
Further opportunities for recycling additional materials may also be available from November when a new Materials Recycling Facility is introduced near Mansfield. However, not much is yet known about this and should not be seen as the solution.
REDUCE THE PACKAGING
It is important that Jo should try to replace products that have packaging with where possible loose items (e.g. satsumas). Where packaging cannot be avoided, Jo should look out for items that can be recycled (e.g. glass jars) or those that may be composted.
The key is to look at changing just a few habits, just tackling one thing at a time to make things easier.
As Jo often uses a supermarket Internet site to do her shopping, it's worth visiting the supermarket for her next shop to try and look for alternatives to over-packaged culprits that she regularly buys. Even flimsy plastic bags from the deli-counter help to reduce waste when compared to more solid materials associated with pre-packaged produce, which cannot currently be recycled in the area.
When buying chocolate bars, she could consider replacing the products wrapped in plastic film with those that use paper and foil. Paper can be recycled or composted and foil could be used for junk art at home or donated to the local school.
If tinned food is normally bought in multi-packs, it's worth checking if buying single tins is just as cheap and order those instead. This way, the plastic wrapping that is used for multi-packs can be avoided. Pet food, baked beans, tomatoes and tuna are regular culprits.
Of course, if Jo feels she can incorporate it into her lifestyle, shopping at a local market and at local shops to replace some of the supermarket products would be a great step towards reducing excess packaging.
COOKING
On the culinary front, Jo often makes use of pre-prepared sauces, which come in pots. Some of these can't be recycled in her area. I've suggested that she experiments with making her favourite sauces from scratch. Simple chilli sauce can be made from fresh\tinned tomatoes with fresh chillis or dried spices. Some of her other favourites could also be created in minutes.
Jo already cooks frequently and loves engaging with the readers of her blog, so it might be an appealing idea to ask them to suggest some quick and fast recipes for some of her favourite sauces. She could then test them out and even feature them on her blog.
COMPOSTING
Last week, I also recommended that she should take advantage of Compost Awareness Week and buy a home composter at a bargain price.
Jo’s garden is big enough to accommodate a composter and once “installed” she will be able to remove fruit & veg peelings from her landfill bin, as well as tea bags & coffee grains and old bedding from her gerbil cage.
She is keen to do this, so there should be further news on this soon.
Cooked food waste should be handled by trying to reduce portion sizes if possible. Alternatively, if it continues to be a problem, a Bokashi system could be considered.
A Bokashi system is an indoor bucket that can be filled with most food waste, including cooked meat products. Active bran is added to the food in layers and left for two weeks to ferment. The liquid must be drained off regularly and can be poured down the drain or diluted with water as a fertiliser for plants. After 2 weeks, the fermented food can be put into the composter.
A Green Cone is another option that could be considered if appropriate for Jo’s Garden. It is similar to a compost bin but will also accept cooked food, meat and fish. The idea is that contents decompose and drain into the surrounding soil. However, I have not yet tested this so am unable to comment in detail.
SANITARY PRODUCT & NAPPIES
Jo is planning to complete her daughter's potty-training this summer, which will be great for removing night-time nappies from the bin. However in the meantime, she might want to consider getting a few reusable ones. If this isn’t practical, using degradable alternatives might be a solution. It’s not a perfect answer, but is one that could suffice in the short-term.
If Jo fancies a go at ditching the nappies, there is are products on the market called Eenie Undies, which are sold as part of the Weenies range. They are waterproof pants that can be used with compostable weenee pads. Jo will need to assess whether they will be suitable for her daughter and whether they could fit into her budget.
I have given her details of the Lollipop online store, so she can find out more about the Weenies training pants. The online shop also sells washable sanitary products, which may be of interest to Jo should she wish to eliminate disposable products from her landfill bin. Some are not as gruesome as they sound and are much friendlier on the environment as well as the pocket.
CLEANING
I have recommended that Jo invests in cleaning cloths that can be washed many times over and use these instead of kitchen towel and regular sponges. I have used E-Cloth products which have worked very well and now feel that I have got my money's worth. However normal sponges can be boiled to extend use if necessary. Also, used kitchen towel can be composted as long as it hasn’t been used to mop up spills and scraps associated with cooked food, meat, fish or indeed has come into contact with cleaning chemicals.
Priority targets: If Jo and her family focus on reducing the amount of packaging that comes into the home, they should be rewarded with a noticeable impact on the size of their bin. If composting is managed alongside this, they should soon be well on their way to cutting their household waste in half.
I'm going to leave the Beaufoix household alone with their Bin for a while. A little privacy is always useful. I'll catch up with them in a couple of weeks to see how they are getting on...and of course I will report back on progress.
Thinking about progress, I wonder how Ruby's rubbish is coming along. She's been in York for a few days and even managed to meet up with one of the site's regular visitors. I'm left wondering how much rubbish they talked. So while Jo's busy working on her rubbish, I'm going to track down Ruby.
More on that soon!
____________________________________________________________
The key problem is that it is always full to its 240 litre capacity. On top of that there are often extra bags of rubbish that can't even fit in, which owner Jo Beaufoix has to take to the dump on a regular basis. That all works out at an estimated 260 cubic litres of waste, every fortnight.
This bin needs some help and the aim is to slim it down to around half its size.
Jo kindly provided me with a lot of detail about what goes in her bin and is now ready to tackle her rubbish head-on.
Her Rubbish Diet Plan includes the following recommendations:
SEEK OUT NEW RECYCLING OPPORTUNITIES
One of the priorities of Jo's Rubbish Diet Plan is to reduce the amount of plastic packaging that goes into the landfill bin. As her local recycling facilities aren't as extensive as those in my neck of the woods, this will be a tougher challenge for Jo and her family.
Jo carried out an audit of her rubbish, which revealed that things like margarine tubs and yoghurt pots couldn't be recycled. However, the great news is that as recently as last month, the local council has included these in their recycling facilities, so they can be ticked off the list straight away.
For anyone who attempts to slim their bin, progress like this always offers a sense of relief.
A call to the council today also revealed that as the pots of jellies and some of the sauce pots used by Jo are made of the same material as the yoghurt packaging, these can be added too. All this shows an encouraging start for the Beaufoix household.
Other news is that Tetra Pak recycling has also been available for some time at the local Household Waste Recycling Centre, so these can be dropped off when the family is passing by.
Further opportunities for recycling additional materials may also be available from November when a new Materials Recycling Facility is introduced near Mansfield. However, not much is yet known about this and should not be seen as the solution.
REDUCE THE PACKAGING
It is important that Jo should try to replace products that have packaging with where possible loose items (e.g. satsumas). Where packaging cannot be avoided, Jo should look out for items that can be recycled (e.g. glass jars) or those that may be composted.
The key is to look at changing just a few habits, just tackling one thing at a time to make things easier.
As Jo often uses a supermarket Internet site to do her shopping, it's worth visiting the supermarket for her next shop to try and look for alternatives to over-packaged culprits that she regularly buys. Even flimsy plastic bags from the deli-counter help to reduce waste when compared to more solid materials associated with pre-packaged produce, which cannot currently be recycled in the area.
When buying chocolate bars, she could consider replacing the products wrapped in plastic film with those that use paper and foil. Paper can be recycled or composted and foil could be used for junk art at home or donated to the local school.
If tinned food is normally bought in multi-packs, it's worth checking if buying single tins is just as cheap and order those instead. This way, the plastic wrapping that is used for multi-packs can be avoided. Pet food, baked beans, tomatoes and tuna are regular culprits.
Of course, if Jo feels she can incorporate it into her lifestyle, shopping at a local market and at local shops to replace some of the supermarket products would be a great step towards reducing excess packaging.
COOKING
On the culinary front, Jo often makes use of pre-prepared sauces, which come in pots. Some of these can't be recycled in her area. I've suggested that she experiments with making her favourite sauces from scratch. Simple chilli sauce can be made from fresh\tinned tomatoes with fresh chillis or dried spices. Some of her other favourites could also be created in minutes.
Jo already cooks frequently and loves engaging with the readers of her blog, so it might be an appealing idea to ask them to suggest some quick and fast recipes for some of her favourite sauces. She could then test them out and even feature them on her blog.
COMPOSTING
Last week, I also recommended that she should take advantage of Compost Awareness Week and buy a home composter at a bargain price.
Jo’s garden is big enough to accommodate a composter and once “installed” she will be able to remove fruit & veg peelings from her landfill bin, as well as tea bags & coffee grains and old bedding from her gerbil cage.
She is keen to do this, so there should be further news on this soon.
Cooked food waste should be handled by trying to reduce portion sizes if possible. Alternatively, if it continues to be a problem, a Bokashi system could be considered.
A Bokashi system is an indoor bucket that can be filled with most food waste, including cooked meat products. Active bran is added to the food in layers and left for two weeks to ferment. The liquid must be drained off regularly and can be poured down the drain or diluted with water as a fertiliser for plants. After 2 weeks, the fermented food can be put into the composter.
A Green Cone is another option that could be considered if appropriate for Jo’s Garden. It is similar to a compost bin but will also accept cooked food, meat and fish. The idea is that contents decompose and drain into the surrounding soil. However, I have not yet tested this so am unable to comment in detail.
SANITARY PRODUCT & NAPPIES
Jo is planning to complete her daughter's potty-training this summer, which will be great for removing night-time nappies from the bin. However in the meantime, she might want to consider getting a few reusable ones. If this isn’t practical, using degradable alternatives might be a solution. It’s not a perfect answer, but is one that could suffice in the short-term.
If Jo fancies a go at ditching the nappies, there is are products on the market called Eenie Undies, which are sold as part of the Weenies range. They are waterproof pants that can be used with compostable weenee pads. Jo will need to assess whether they will be suitable for her daughter and whether they could fit into her budget.
I have given her details of the Lollipop online store, so she can find out more about the Weenies training pants. The online shop also sells washable sanitary products, which may be of interest to Jo should she wish to eliminate disposable products from her landfill bin. Some are not as gruesome as they sound and are much friendlier on the environment as well as the pocket.
CLEANING
I have recommended that Jo invests in cleaning cloths that can be washed many times over and use these instead of kitchen towel and regular sponges. I have used E-Cloth products which have worked very well and now feel that I have got my money's worth. However normal sponges can be boiled to extend use if necessary. Also, used kitchen towel can be composted as long as it hasn’t been used to mop up spills and scraps associated with cooked food, meat, fish or indeed has come into contact with cleaning chemicals.
Priority targets: If Jo and her family focus on reducing the amount of packaging that comes into the home, they should be rewarded with a noticeable impact on the size of their bin. If composting is managed alongside this, they should soon be well on their way to cutting their household waste in half.
I'm going to leave the Beaufoix household alone with their Bin for a while. A little privacy is always useful. I'll catch up with them in a couple of weeks to see how they are getting on...and of course I will report back on progress.
Thinking about progress, I wonder how Ruby's rubbish is coming along. She's been in York for a few days and even managed to meet up with one of the site's regular visitors. I'm left wondering how much rubbish they talked. So while Jo's busy working on her rubbish, I'm going to track down Ruby.
More on that soon!
____________________________________________________________