Bin confusion in Shrewsbury!

Just got back from recycling at the Ludlow Medieval Christmas Fayre - a fantastic event set inside the beautiful Ludlow Castle!! We had a fine time squelching around in the mud and bin diving but.... we managed to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill dramatically. We first worked at the event in 2011 - in 2010, the event had sent 37 skips to landfill - last year we reduced this to 7 simply by putting in a waste separation system and capturing recyclable materials. This year all the event landfill waste went into 2 mini skips - a great result given the very wet conditions. It will be a couple of days before I know weights. Anyway - that's just to explain why I haven't been blogging this past week. So what was happening at my house while I was away? well, being quite a control freak and obviously totally obsessed by rubbish I was a little concerned about whether we could adhere to the Rubbish Diet without me standing over the bin. However, imagine my delight when on Tuesday morning - bin day - my husband put out the recycling instead of the refuse because there was hardly anything in the bin and he thought it must be a recycling week!! www.shropshirewaste.co.uk On closer inspection there was one bag in the bin full of sweet wrappers from the boys bedrooms and the kitchen bin contents weighed 2.4 kg. In the past it would have been a disaster to miss the bin men - but under the Rubbish diet it's no big deal - no fear of having an over flowing bin and no foul smelling rubbish because there's no food waste in it! So it seems that my family are quite happy to keep on with the rubbish diet even if I am not here and treading lightly with regard to waste is getting easier and easier.

The results are in.... 1st fortnight on Rubbish Diet Shropshire

Well after 2 weeks of eating, sleeping and talking rubbish - tonight I have weighed our rubbish..... da da daaah 5 people and a dog have produced 2 and a half bags of rubbish weighing a total of 5.4 kg. My wheelie bin is one third full. Our wheelie bin at the last bin day was nearly full with 5 bags in it weighing a total of 10kg. So in both weight and volume we have reduced our rubbish by almost 50%. The reduction is great but is 5.4kg still high? What weight of rubbish does an average UK family throw away each fortnight? Can anybody tell me? My next question is can we get any lower? Well, we seem to be getting into a rhythm now - avoiding non recyclable packaging. Our recycling system has had an overhaul to make it more efficient and the boys are heeding the big notice on the bin that says NO PLASTIC, NO METAL, NO PAPER, NO CARD AND CHECK WITH ME FIRST!! Our biggest problem is food waste. A couple of errors on portion size or forgetting to use up leftovers and bingo you have another kilo of methane just waiting to happen! So my big push over the next 2 weeks will be to be much more careful planning meals, buying food - trying not to be drawn in by bargain buys and using my freezer more effectively. Check out www.lovefoodhatewaste.org.uk to stop feeding landfill!! And thanks to the grow cook share project in Craven Arms because tey are going to share their Bokashi knowledge with us.

Recyclable versus Biodegradable plastics - what do you think?

One of the biggest problems for consumers is working out what is the best thing for the environment! Most plastic packaging is recyclable - but only some can be taken back to supermarkets. Then some packaging is biodegradable so is designed to disappear in landfill How are we supposed to know what goes where? Without specific legislation - companies are taking the initiative to come up with their own solutions. BUT that means we end up with a mish mash of materials all of which need to be dealt with in a different way. Biodegradable plastics still use fossil fuels and still go to landfill albeit temporarily. I don't think this is closed loop thinking it just muddies the water!! What do you think? John Lewis unveils biodegradable packaging 'fit for landfill' 8 November 2012, source edie newsroom John Lewis has introduced biodegradable polyethylene packaging across its bed linen and schoolwear lines, in what is thought to be a UK first. Related articles Zero waste to landfill for milk bottle manufacturer The material, which will replace conventional polyethylene, contains an additive biodegrade introduced during the manufacturing process which will break down with or without oxygen, heat or light, in 5-15 years - meaning it will still degrade even if sent to landfill. John Lewis packaging design & production manager Mark Gallen said the company had been researching more sustainable packaging materials with its suppliers, and believes this is a ground-breaking development. "We have already replaced PVC packaging with recyclable polyethylene ... while it is possible to recycle traditional plastic bags at some recycling centres, it is less common to be able to recycle this type of plastic at kerbside collection points meaning that most of it is thrown in the bin," he commented. "Until recycling facilities are more widely available, most people will throw the packaging away. We know that our customers want to reduce their environmental impact, and this new material makes it easy for them to do this." The retailer plans to roll out the packaging across other product lines including own-brand ready-made curtains next year. Following an initial six months of exclusive use, it will then make the technology behind the new packaging available to other retailers. John Lewis takes accountability for its waste arisings very seriously. Last month its recycling & waste operations manager Mike Walters told edie that the company was now focusing on end destination and keeping secondary materials in the UK wherever possible.