What to do with all those padded envelopes

The other day I met some ladies who are interested in joining the Rubbish Diet Challenge - and as usual it wasn't long before conversation turns to "What can you do about.....? type questions.



padded envelopes

As people do more and more shopping on line so they begin to accumulate more and more padded envelopes. James Thompson, pointed me to this great Friends of the Earth guidance by Melanie Kramers: Melanie's guide to recycling padded envelopes:

1. Reuse It's obvious, but saving envelopes and reusing them when you have to send a package can save a packet. You may never need to buy them again. Friends of the Earth envelope reuse labels are a great way to clearly write the new address.
2. Sell or give away Bundled together by the dozen, used padded envelopes are a popular bulk buy on Ebay. Offer them on your local Freecycle site, where they'll be snapped up fast, or give to family and friends who do lots of eBay selling.
3. Storage Make the most of that protective bubble wrap and use them to store fragile items such as Christmas tree decorations.
4. Insulation My colleague Rachel recommends cutting open envelopes and taping them round outdoor water pipes as cosy insulation to stop them freezing in winter. You can stick a whole one over the outdoor tap.
5. Knee pads Try wrapping a few envelopes in fabric or cardboard to make a comfortable cushion for your knees when gardening.
6. Homemade pots Cut down to size and filled with compost, Jiffy bags make a handy pot for growing seedlings before transplanting.
7. Kids' crafts Save them for any kids you know to use as an unusual spongy art canvas.
8. Drawer dividers Old envelopes make useful pockets for keeping things tidy within a drawer, from loose screws to buttons and elastic bands.
9. Cat cushions Apparently, some cats love snoozing on soft padded envelopes that don't tear when kneaded with sharp claws. My cat seems to prefer the ironing pile for naps, but see what your pet makes of it.
10. Packaging Even when really used and battered, there's still life in your old padded envelopes. Use them as protection for whatever you want to send, then pop the whole thing inside a normal envelope.

Melanie Kramers, Communications & Media team If anyone has any other uses for them or indeed has any questions about different materials - give us a shout thanks Ali ________________________________________

Terracycle tackling hard to recycle materials

This week I have come across Terracycle.com - they run recycling Brigades for hard to recycle materials. For example, biscuit wrappers, pens, coffee packaging and Johnson's baby wipe packaging. A school, an organisation or an individual signs up to become a recycling location for a particular material and starts collecting.

Terracycle then sends out a Freepost label for the collector to send the materials to them. The materials are then upcycled or recycled into new and useful things!

AND Terracycle send the collector redeemable points. Brilliant isn't it?

I have come across 3 schemes this week: the United Reform Church in Abbey foregate are collecting biscuit wrappers - any non savoury biscuit wrapper - for example, digestive packet, penguins, gold bars, rocky bars etc - all this packaging can go to the URC and will be sent off for recycling.

The other schemes I have heard about collect pens that have run out. If you know of any other Brigades in Shropshire or Telford and Wrekin - please let me know. Thanks.

I have just heard that my application to set up a collection point in Meole Brace school has been confirmed so we will start after Easter - 1200 students and staff are bound to throw away a few pens I guess. So This Easter - how about going through those drawers and collecting all those broken pens, dried up felt pens, highlighters and markers - and bring them down to Meole Brace.


I would love to know about any other collection schemes going on in your area so that I can tell all the rubbish dieters - we are always looking for solutions to problem wastes. Bye for now ali 07972 858313

Ashley St Rubbish Dieters off to a flying start

15 Households on Ashley Street are slimming their bins together! The Rubbish diet challenge, Spring 2013 has got off to a flying start with 15 households on Ashley St, Cherry Orchard, working together to slim their bins. Jackie Jones and Naomi Hutchings began the bin slimming process before Christmas and were so surprised at how effective it was, that they decided to get ask their neighbours to join them. Jackie Jones said “We can’t believe how many of our neighbours have joined in – we thought it might just be a couple of other houses. It is proving to be really popular and we take it in turns to host meetings each fortnight to eat cake and exchange weights.” Naomi added “We have decided to share lifts to the bring banks and the household recycling centre – so each fortnight, one family collects all the cardboard, tetrapaks, electrical items etc from the street and takes them for recycling – so we are saving 14 journeys very 2 weeks as well helping people without a car to recycle more.” The results after the first 2 weeks were astounding with most families reducing their waste by one third and one family reducing their waste by a massive 20kg! Whether it’s a space issue and you can’t get everything in your bin, your wheelie bin smells because of rotting food or you just can’t stand our throw away lifestyle – the rubbish diet challenge will solve all your waste problems. It’s very simple to do: you start by weighing your rubbish the day before bin day – so that you have a starting point and then you weigh it for the next 4 bin days. Each slimmer is given a starter pack with a step by step guide to how to slim your bin. This is full of top tips for reducing your waste and avoiding difficult materials. The great thing about doing the Rubbish Diet Challenge is - it really works! The results are dramatic and the support you get from other local dieters is great. To find out more about the Rubbish Diet please email Alison Thomas on alison.thomas08@gmail.com or call 07972 858313. Alison said “I would love to hear from you if you fancy taking the Rubbish Diet challenge to see how much waste you can lose, we are hoping individuals, streets, schools, clubs or businesses will take up the Rubbish Diet challenge this Spring. The Rubbish Diet is a finalist in the NESTA Waste Reduction competition and we are looking for 100 households to take part in a trial with us in April. I will come and talk you through the process and connect you to other people in your area and support you through the 8 week process.”