Our fifteen minutes of fame

Filed in Blog by on September 1, 2008 11 Comments
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zero waste week on the BBC
Good grief! Talk about 15 minutes of fame.

On Friday we were on our local radio breakfast show with Severn Sound. We both stared in that because it was recorded – there is nooooo way I would do a live recording! Kate, the news reporter turned up an hour early and she was magnificent. What confidence! What style! What, just total professionalism wrapped up in one human being! And to top it all, she was really, NICE………..

She only lives a mile away from us and seemed genuinely interested in what we are doing for zero waste week. She admits she ‘could do more’ but is really conscious of the whole environmental issues surrounding waste and recycling.

When we showed her our bin with eight week’s worth of rubbish in it, she was utterly amazed and couldn’t wait to take a photo of it.

It must be a nightmare to have to interview people about something you’re not remotely interested in, but Kate really showed interest and enthusiasm and thanked us for inspiring her. I have a feeling we will be in her mind next time she goes to throw something in the bin πŸ˜‰

This morning, Mr Green had a call from our Local BBC radio station, Radio Gloucestershire and rose to the occasion beautifully by answering all the questions about our zero waste challenge. You might see a bit of good team work coming out here – I write, he speaks πŸ˜‰

If you want to listen in, he was on the Mark Cummings breakfast show which runs from 6am and Mr Green was on at about 8:25Β  (Fast forward to 02:24 to hear him). It sounded great and Mark seemed inspired and wished us well with our week.

Support has been enormous and guess what? Prior to Mr Green this morning, was the fabulous Chris Jeavens talking about her own month of plastic-free living! It’s great timing, as Chris closes the door on her experiences and reflects on 21st century use of plastic, we’re beginning our zero waste week challenge.

Both radio stations want to follow things up with us to follow our progress, which is fab news.

No sooner had we fanned the flames of fame when the telephone rang with someone else from the BBC wanting a photo of us. They wrote a piece about us here on the BBC website

Then the phone rang again and it was a reporter from Points West – our local television company. They came out to us this afternoon for a news feature. We showed them around the kitchen and took them shopping to our local store to see just ‘how we would do it.’ Going shopping with a camera in your face is quite an experience, I can tell you. That’s on air at 6:30 this evening, but should be available on their site later for people outside the area.

The person who came to record us, Steve, was a wonderful guy. Very good looking too as he carefully dropped the mike down my top and fed it through to my back pocket – I didn’t mind when we realised it hadn’t been turned on and out it came again πŸ˜€

He seemed genuinely interested in what we were doing and went away with a few ideas himself. He’s coming back next week to see how we got on. I could see how ideas were flooding around his brain as I talked him through some simple ways to reduce waste such as making bread, buying things in reusable containers and reusing carrier bags.

I do have to say a huge thank you to Fran and Richard from our local shop – Lea village stores in Lea, Herefordshire. They weren’t in the least big phased as we wandered around with camera equipment in tow and they did their utmost to be helpful with our mission. Fran, co-owner of the shop is really pro bring-your-own-bags and sells great quality loose fruit and vegetables. She sources as much as she can locally and is always raising money for local charities.

After that, our stats went a little silly and we realised we’d been featured on the WRAP’s Recycle Now site with a little news story about us.

And to finish off the fanfare, Gloucestershire County council announced their plan for zero waste week in January of next year. They are asking for locals to join in the fun. We’re hoping that it will spread from county to county so that recycling and reusing more becomes the ‘norm’ across the UK. Bath and NE Somerset have done it and St. Edmonsbury did it and now Gloucestershire are going to step up to the challenge.

In addition, entries have been flooding in for the pledge and win competition. We had over 20 people joining in this morning……….

We’ve also had two local newspapers running stories on us. As soon as I have worked out the technology, I should be able to share these with you – stay tuned!

I had lots of plans for decluttering today in honour of my own pledge, but that went out of the window. Ah well, there is the rest of the week to catch up and I’m off to create a zero waste tea!

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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 (11)

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  1. Hi Mrs Green,

    And you the shy retiring type! Fantastic news for the whole family. This shows that small beginnings can lead to greater things. I felt that our ideas were taking root in various ways. Superstores are changing their ways, that is unheard of.
    Enjoy the spotlight because it will give you the chance to spread the message far and wide. This could be day 1 of a lot of big days. You have earned it.

  2. Hi again all,

    The article was ace and you gave some good advice. It is great to see the council support. They realise that this can save them a fortune in landfill tax.

  3. Poppy says:

    Looked great Rae πŸ™‚ Well done to all of you and I look forward to seeing you again when they re-visit to see how you got on πŸ™‚

  4. Just listened in Mr G…fantastic interview, you’re a natural. Can’t wait to see the TV clip soon. Great article too by the way. Thanks for keeping it all up to date ;-D

  5. Mr Green says:

    We are at a dissadvantage with media. Wr have no TV and our radio can’t pick up stations very well. Anyway, glad we got the message across and that’s all that matters really.

    Thanks for all your support. We always remember one crucial point; we may be having good media coverage today, but its you folks that make it all happen, behind the scenes, in every day life, ordinary people who determine to make a positive change for good. That’s where the cutting edge is at.

  6. Mrs Green says:

    John; honestly, I know nobody believes me, but you would not believe how nervous and shy I actually am. You’re right about small beginnings and this is the message we hope to get across with our zero waste week by asking people to pledge too. It’s about celebrating successes and looking at what we CAN do, rather than dwelling on the things we cannot change.
    As Mr G says, it’s all thanks to everyone who has joined in to pledge their support too; this just helps to spread the message further and helps make zero waste more of a reality.

    Thank you Poppy; it will be great to do reviews on the week and gives us a focus and point of reflection too.

    You’re welcome Mrs A – he is a bit of a natural isn’t he? Ya know, it was his voice (well, and his face) I fell in love with when I first met him πŸ˜‰ Shhhhh, don’t tell anyone.

  7. Sue says:

    Well done Rae, Richard and V, I missed the news (don’t watch TV!), but was very pleased to find the Points West story on the internet.
    Good luck for the Zero waste challenge, I have found it quiet easy to produce very little waste, but there is always one thing or another that keeps it from being a truely zero waste week. At the moment we have a plastic cous cous packet! (But I hope to bulk buy in future, and hope it comes in recycle friendly packaging!)
    Keep up to good work
    Sue
    x

  8. congratulations on your media blitz guys! Glad to hear that you are getting the word out there and that people are listening. Good luck with your completely zero waste week.

    We often dream that someone would open an organic bulk store in our neighbourhood – preferably with a local only section. We came across a few great ones in the United States with everything from bulk olive oil and cereal to shampoo! It would make life so much easier.

  9. Mrs Green says:

    Hi Sue, isn’t it great that with modern technology we can catch up with these things on the internet after the event! Good luck with the couscous; I’m sure I’ve seen it in cardboard boxes; Mmmm, maybe that was polenta; I don’t remember now.

    Hey Jen; your blog is providing some excellent thought provoking posts. Could this dream be a business for you, perhaps? Do you think there is a market over there for this?

    Thank you, Philip; it’s all helping to spread the word and we are looking forward to more coverage once the week is over.

  10. Hi Mrs Green,

    I see a comment by Councillor Booth. Having been a sceptic at first, I now see that an alliance between Councils and Zero Waste enthusiasts can be a powerful force for change.
    The success that these joint efforts can achieve will inform other coucils of the way ahead.

    Well done, Councillor Booth.

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