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.

Some Shropshire bin slimmers' results

Thank you to everyone who is slimming their bin with us this November! We asked people to take a photo of their rubbish on bin day - then use that day as the first day of the rubbish diet and then weigh each bag as it goes into the wheelie bin. Now we worked out that the average weight of refuse per household in Shropshire is 16.4 kg. So far we have had the following results: 1.3 kg 2 x adults household 2.45 kg 2 x adults household 3.05 kg 3 x adults household 5.4 kg 5 people and a dog 15.0 kg average 4 people and a dog Awaiting results from another 12 households who are taking part. Here are some of the difficult items left in the bin: laminated paper, cheese rind, old fimo, fish skins/chicken bones, inside of a chocolate box ( the goldy bit that the chocs go in), toothpaste tube, toothbrush that had already been used for cleaning, coffee/crisp packets - foil lined packets, DIY - empty paint pots, old paint brush, painty/spirity newspaper. Here are some of the problems that set you back: "My first fortnight was an unmitigated disaster.  Baseline 2kg for the fortnight.  Now up to 15kg.  More people in house -  daughter and boyfriend for 5 nights, my brother and his wife for 2.  That makes it up to an average of 4 people in the house from our normal 3.  Problem areas: -          Food waste -  fridge too full, me too busy, Dad giving me food he’d overbought just on/over its use by, both of us buying salad on the same day, food no longer fit to eat wasted chucked in its packets!! -          Broken crockery -          Neighbours large dog using our lawn as a toilet Onward and upward and yes food waste the focus.  And maybe visitor training? Questions:  what can I do with a broken mug?  What can I do with backpack on which zips are bust? Solutions:   Bag in freezer for stale bread -  the bread and butter pudding bag;  big carrier bags for film and black pots; planning our meals (breakthrough) and cooking stuff that will do three days meals  -  veg bake for me, chicken for the carnivores. So the rubbish diet is not all plain sailing - you do need a good run at it and it is easy to come off the rails occasionally. However - if we manage the bin slim for even 50% of the time we will be making a real difference to the waste that goes to landfill - and our council tax will go further and we will be saving money by not wasting food! Anyone else want to join us on the Rubbish Diet - drop us a line on alison.thomas08@gmail.com or follow us on twitter @RDShrosphire thanks Ali

safe dates for food

Karen Cannard - the creator of the Rubbish Diet sent over this link from love food hate waste campaign.... "Re food, it's also worth remembering that even up to its Use By date, certain food can still be frozen. Here's a great link that you might like to share around your community:" http://england.lovefoodhatewaste.com/content/know-your-dates-londons-love-food-hate-waste-campaign I think I just need a 30 hour day - then I would be really organised! The chickens next door are enjoying my attempts at getting rid of food waste and the dog is getting fat! This has got to stop - no more food waste from now on!

Why oh Why do supermarkets sell stuff in black plastic trays?

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? Either way, there should be 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...

Landfills don't need calories

Talking of food waste - here's a bit of info to get us thinking.... "As its coming up to Christmas we could all do with a bit more spare cash in our wallet, right? Well did you know that the average UK family throws out approximately £550 worth of food each year! Shocking, isn't it? But it's true and most of that is simply because we buy too much or cook too much and then never get round to eating it. And of course when you've got a busy lifestyle with kids this problem is just magnified. Some kids can be fussy eaters too - we've all spend hours slaving over a hot stove only to see the little ones leave half the food uneaten on their plate. Well one way to help avoid this is getting your children more involved in meal planning and preparing dinner. This can be fun and may help them to appreciate the value of food and waste less. Simply by planning out your meals for the week ahead in a diary, you can reduce waste because you can plan out a shopping list, so that you only buy what you really need. Some ways of reducing food waste are really as simple as just storing food in a different place. Two-thirds of UK households are letting fruit go to waste, simply by keeping it out in a fruit bowl whereas fruit like apples will last up to 14 days longer if kept in the fridge. Another top tip is to make the most of your freezer. Try freezing any leftovers in individual portions and then you have a perfect lunch to take to work in the week. But make sure you wrap food properly before freezing to keep it at its best. Use freezer bags or plastic containers and minimize the air around the food helps avoid ‘freezer burn’. And it's not just all about money - by saving food waste we can all tread more lightly on the planet. Producing, distributing, storing and cooking food uses energy, fuel and water. All these activities result in greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming. Think of a pack of cheese for example. The resources that go into raising the cows, processing the milk, transporting the cheese, refrigeration, the fuel we use to drive to the shop to buy it - all this to put it in the bin at the end of the week. It's insane but it's happening all over the country right now - in fact in the UK we throw away the equivalent of more than three million slices of cheese every single day! In Shropshire around 20% of all household waste is food waste - so that means we're producing about 30,000 tonnes of the stuff every year. Of course now some of this will be composted or feed to pets and the like but even if it doesn’t all end up in landfill its far better to avoid this waste in the first place. Being frugal with your food is helping to ensure our environment is protected for the future generations." For more handy hints and tips and a delicious selection of family friendly recipes visit http://england.lovefoodhatewaste.com/ Regards, James Thompson, Waste Prevention Officer Waste Management Shropshire Council

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.

Thoughts from a bin slimmer

I'll admit to making a somewhat half-hearted attempt at slimming my bin. Partly, because it seems to be quite slim already. This isn't because I'm some eco-warrior, just because I've done the easy stuff and I'm not sure what to do next. 

I unintentionally slimmed my bin a few years ago, I actually had to go out and buy a smaller bin. We were emptying ours so infrequently that it was really starting to smell!

I wasn't really trying to at the time it was just a lucky coincidence. 

The things that made this happen were:

1. We bought a house with our very own garden and started composting. All the veg peelings that used to go in the bin are now outside making lovely compost for my veg patch.

2. We stopped buying milk in plastic bottles or cartons and instead have it delivered. Three times a week a bottle of fresh milk is on the doorstep before breakfast and the empty bottles are taken away to be re-used. This is surely one of the most wonderful and environmentally friendly ways of packaging anything - nothing to throw away at all! 

These two things made a dramatic difference. And, I'd got rather complacent until I heard about Karen Cannard http://therubbishdiet.blogspot.co.uk/ getting her weekly rubbish down to just one plaster. 

I'm definitely a long way off from that one.

I quick peek in the kitchen bin has revealed the following:

A cake box - This is mostly cardboard so could have been recycled but is also coated in sticky icing and needs the plastic film window peeling out. I was too lazy to get covered in lemon icing while trying to rip out a bit of necessary plastic that I just binned it. 

Washing up gloves - I always bin these and dishcloths. I think the only answer is to buy a more expensive, better quality brand, in the hope that they last longer and so I throw away less. Also, instead of binning a pair of gloves I just bin the one with the hole in and so only need one new one. I occasionally end up with two left hands, but every little helps! 

A biro - At the risk of covering everything in blue ink, I'm going to hunt down my old fountain pen from secondary school and stop using disposable pens.

Hope you've enjoyed these ramblings and please share your bin slimming challenges and successes! 

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.