Just Gai signs up for the Bristol zero waste week challenge

Filed in Waste News by on September 12, 2008 8 Comments
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Just Gai joins Bristol zero waste week challenge
I want you all to go along and cheer Just Gai as she begins her zero waste mission and blogs her progress. She has accepted Bristol’s Zero Waste Week Challenge, which runs from 29th September.

But Just Gai is getting a head start and is doing some great preparation already! She knows exactly what she can recycle easily:

Her kerbside collections include paper, glass, tins, aluminium foil, batteries, old clothes and glasses and kitchen waste.

She can recycle type 1&2 plastic bottles and tetrapaks in nearby supermarket car parks.

In addition, Just Gai has a compost bin and a wormery in her back garden and another compost bin on her allotment.

She has recently become passionate about recycling; a woman after my own heart that’s for sure!

Her motivation is the welfare of her fellow human beings across the planet and its preservation for future generations. As Mother of two children, she is acutely aware of the impact of her actions and consumer choices on the environment. I think many of us can relate to that feeling………

So give her some support and encouragement, because I know how much that can help.

Just Gai has already taken some great steps by keeping her ‘rubbish’ within eyeshot so that she can see exactly where any potential problems might occur. We found this to be really helpful too – it’s too easy to throw it in the bin and then forget about it. If you keep it somewhere more noticeable you are forced to look at it and it makes you consider how you might be able to improve on reducing, recycling or reuse.

As Bristol council are quick to point out, it’s really about increasing awareness, making conscious choices and seeing how close to zero waste you can go. As our pledge showed, it’s the taking part that counts, not necessarily achieving zero waste.

You can still achieve a dramatic effect on the amount you throw away just by making full use of kerbside collections.

Good luck Just Gai – we are right here cheering you on!

About the Author ()

I am a long time supporter of the Green and Sustainable lifestyle. After being caught in the Boscastle floods in 2004, our family begun a journey to respect and promote the importance of Earth's fragile ecosystem, that focussed on reducing waste. Inspired by the beauty and resourcefulness of this wonderful planet, I have published numerous magazine articles on green issues and the author of four books.

Comments (8)

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  1. Mr. Green says:

    Well done Just Gai, you have our admiration and full support for this challenge. Bristol has pretty good recycling collections, so you will have a good start.

  2. Just popping in to wish Just Gai the best of luck. Bath & NE Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire are all joining in during the same week. I’ve just discovered this morning that we’re all linked on the Bath & NES page:

    http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/BathNES/environmentandplanning/recyclingandwaste/Recycling/Zerowastechallenge.htm

    Good luck to all those who join in.

  3. Hi Mrs Green,

    Just Gai has joined the Zero Waste challenge and is already doing a lot of the right things. It is good to see Bristol backing a Zero Waste Week. This will be the future throughout the country. The trailblazers can be justly proud of their efforts, knowing they are setting an example which others will aspire to.

  4. Done, been over, commented and bookmarked the blog.

  5. Mrs Green says:

    Ooooo, Mrs A – now I wonder who was responsible for sharing all our sites on the Bath and NE Somerset pages? I think you might have been busy recently 🙂

    We’re so pleased to see Bristol joining in, because they are partly linked to South Glos, which is linked to us, so a cluster of zero wasting is growing.

    I know Just Gai will appreciate everyone’s support, just as we did.

  6. just Gai says:

    You’re right Mrs Green. I do appreciate your support. I feel as if I have linked on to a chain which will snake across the country – perhaps even the world. I’ve already had some very interesting conversations with a variety of people which convinces me that waste and its reduction is very much on peoples’ minds. There is a will to do something about it. What we need are the tools.

  7. Hi Gai,

    That is a good description of the spread of Zero Waste. Chain of Sustainability is my choice for a title. I feel sustainability is the final goal, with Zero Waste our contribution.

    I am sure there are many other possibilities. Has anyone else got an idea for a name?

  8. Kris says:

    Good luck Just Gai – if luck is the right word, probably not! So I hope you can marshall some determination and enjoy finding solutions and alternatives as you aim for zero waste.

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