Find out what Shropshire Rubbish dieters have been saying...

How much of our waste is actually recyclable?

So here is the challenge - how low can you go if you put your mind to it?

Our amazing Rubbish Dieters in Shropshire have been slimming their bins over the last few weeks to spectacular effect

here are a few quotes:

"I can't believe what a difference taking all the polythene out of my bin makes! Wouldn't it be great if everyone took their polythene to Sainsburys, Morrisons or the Coop"

"I'm loving my Bokashi bin - no more food waste in my bin - and my bin is so much slimmer"

"Doing the Rubbish Diet with my neighbours has been a great way to meet people who live on Ashley Street"

"I asked the council to take away my big wheelie bin - now I have a tiny one because my rubbish has gone down so much I don't need a big one. The little one is easy to move and doesn't take up much space"

If you would like to know more about the Rubbish Diet - give me a shout on 01743 351014 07972 858313 or follow us on twitter @rdshropshire Alison@therubbishdiet.org.uk

Sign up to the Rubbish Diet www.therubbishdiet.org.uk or come to 8 Woodfield Road Monday 17th June at 7.30pm all welcome for cake and a rubbish chat

Things that make bin slimming difficult!

As I go through the rubbish diet I am attempting to make a list of things that I need to try and avoid buying because of their packaging.

Black plastic !

Please tell me why supermarkets are selling stuff in black plastic trays? We cannot recycle them in Shropshire - even the most modern. sophisticated plastics separation facility can't do anything with black trays!! So why is stuff still sold in them? Are the black trays cheaper to produce? Does the food look better on a black tray?

No more Tresemme
The biggest shame is that I can't buy my favourite Tresemme shampoo any more even though it comes in a good quality plastic bottle - because it is black it is ending up in landfill.

Tresemme please could you use purple bottles instead?

Polystyrene Pizzas

My kids are often going off to play something involving a ball and a stick in the evenings and by the time I get home from work sometimes the only answer to avoid mass starvation is a quick pizza. So I whip a couple out of the freezer ready to whack them in the oven - only to find a devious layer of polystyrene inside the innocuous cardboard box......  Does anyone know where I can buy ready made pizzas that don't have hidden polystyrene?

Crisps and chocolate foil lined packaging

This is the toughest one to avoid in my house - with a barrage of teenage boys who despite my best efforts would still live on junk food if they could. We do buy basic tortilla chips because these come in clear plastic that I take back to Sainsburys.

The fact that Terracycle are collecting biscuit wrappers is making a difference to my list of stuff to avoid - but I really do need to tackle my chocolate habit!


 Wouldn't it be great if we could find a way that forces non-recyclable packaging out of the loop?

Perhaps, there should be a disposal surcharge on products if their packaging is non-recyclable to discourage food companies from using it.

Perhaps, supermarkets could start to refuse to sell products which come in non-recyclable packaging....

Another idea would be for supermarkets to provide the facility to take back all their own packaging.... all the bring banks in the car park are a good start - but if supermarkets had to find recycling and disposal routes for all the packaging they sold - they would soon start to only sell things wrapped in stuff that is easy and cheap to handle. Oh for a joined up World...

Would love to hear how you manage to avoid difficult materials

Ali

So here we are in the New Year - I always start a diet in the New Year - well I try to at least..... but this year, how about a different sort of diet - the Rubbish Diet - slimming your bin is great fun, it saves you money, it makes your council tax go further and of course it means that less stuff goes to landfill,loads more stuff gets recycled - saving space in landfill, saving energy and making much better use of valuable resources. One more great thing is no more panic about missing bin day - cos there's hardly anything in your wheelie!! The Rubbish diet – Here are the 7 easy steps to slim your bin: 1. Imagine that after your next bin day there will be no more refuse collections – and you will have to deal with all your waste – anything that can’t be recycled you will have to bury in your own garden – your very own landfill right up close! 2. With that picture in your mind you need to baseline your rubbish – so on the night before your grey bin is collected have a look and make a note of how full your wheelie bin is – roughly how many bags. If you are really keen – weigh each bag so you know how much weight you are chucking out. A photo of inside your bin is a quick way of recording your starting point. 3. So the lovely bin men come and empty your bin – now you are ready to start the rubbish diet – the first challenge is get your recycling system sorted out so it doesn’t drive you mad…. We produce a lot of cardboard and paper so I have 2 stacking boxes next to the bin one for card and one for paper – on top I have a tray (one from an old fridge!) – I put all my plastic, cans, foil tetrapaks, batteries etc in here and empty into recycling boxes every couple of days. The other top tip is to have a bag hanging on a door or under your sink for all plastic wrappers, bread bags, toilet roll bags etc. 4. So challenge for the first week is to try and recycle everything you possibly can – check out this website to find out exactly what the council will collect from your kerbside and what can be taken to bring banks at supermarkets and the Household recycling centre: www.shropshirewaste.gov.uk Don’t forget that all that plastic wrap can be put into the plastic bag recycling bins at supermarkets. 5. After one week of taking out all your yoghurt pots, foil, cans, glass, card and paper and plastic wrapping – the next step is to look at what is still in the bin – make a note of the stuff and have a think about whether there is an alternative that doesn’t produce the waste. For example, foil lined crisp packets – everyone loves crisps but can you cope with buying Sainsburys basic tortilla chips in a clear plastic bag that can be put in bag recycling instead? Will your cat eat canned food instead of the food pouches? Can you buy big pots of yoghurt instead of the little individual ones so you only have one lid instead of 6? 6. Give yourself the challenge of not putting any food in the bin for a week. Investing in a compost bin for all your peelings from fruit and veg is a great way to reduce your waste – maybe a neighbour is a keen gardener and would be happy to have your compost. Can you avoid any wasted food? This is the bit that has been brilliant for us – by cooking once and eating twice we have saved money and avoided waste food in the bin. www.lovefoodhatewaste.org.uk is a great website with all sorts of tips to avoid food waste – the portion measure has really helped us. 7. The rubbish diet is about talking to other dieters so that we support each other – maybe someone has a solution to a waste problem – like using the orange plastic nets from oranges as a scourer. Maybe you have found a waste free alternative and can share that with other dieters So please tell us how you are getting on – follow the Shropshire dieters on Twitter @RDShropshire and check out the blog www.rubbishdietshropshire.blogspot.co.uk and send us your thoughts, questions, complaints and discoveries to Alison.thomas08@gmail.com Thanks and good luck with slimming your bin!!