Sunday roundup 45
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Oh yes it is! It’s Sunday again and just look at these numbers notching up – we’re on week 45; how time flies when you’re busy making things from your old Ecover packaging.
Let’s review the past week at Chez Green.
One of our regular readers and contributors, Carole Blake contacted her council in Cornwall about lack of tetrapak recycling. She received a very interesting response, which prompted Tetrapak recycling to come along to our site and offer further explanation. Get the low down here.
On Tuesday, we shared the controversial headline “As landfil tax soars, recycling represents better value than ever”. Read all about it!
Mid week I had a bit of a rant about Ecover packaging. After being left with a box full of unidentifiable plastic I made a call to their headquarters. Find out what happened and what the result was.
Bic launched their Bic Ecolutions this week. I thought we had finally solved the greenest, cleanest shave issue, but alas not. Read the story here. I’ve since contacted them to ask for their comment; so watch this space!
On Get off your arse Thursday, some of you were busy reducing your landfill waste along with me. Dig the dirt on who was doing what and be sure to join in next week for your chance to win a stunning cyber prize.
We ended the week with a bit of bad news. We were caught out in a ‘convenience v’s landfill’ situation. Find out what happened.
Hot off the press was news about this year’s WRAP recycle week. Find out what the theme is for 2009 and why we’re really pleased about it!
That’s all folks. Thanks for another great week, for sharing your lives with us, leaving some great comments and delivering some top news stories for my perusal. We appreciate all the time and energy you put into keeping in contact with us and spreading the zero waste word.
Next week we have some fantastic guest posts lined up. Find out why plastic might not be as bad for the environment as recycled paper! And we’re giving Ecover a space to tell us more about themselves and their eco credientials. Circle Thursday in your diary and start thinking about what tiny step you might take this week to reduce your landfill waste even further.
As they say in all the best American movies ‘Have a great day!’
xxx
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Happy Birthday Little Miss Green! Today we celebrate a special Birthday at zero waste towers!
Week 45? Blimey! Well done!
Having a party to celebrate a whole year of zero wasting?
Hi Mrs Green,
Enjoying the spring sunshine while it lasts. I am particularly looking forward to the Ecover article. They are such a good contact with their refillable options. Cooperation between our Zero Waste trend and their good environmental attitude should help both.
Hi Mrs Green,
My first year of the 5 year binbag challenge has just passed, with 1lb (454g) of purely plastic waste in a blue plastic bag. Any waste with a recyclable content has been set aside for future recycling.
As the year progressed, it became easier to reduce waste items. This is partly due to improved packaging alternatives and to rigorous plastic avoidance. The latter is necessary due to the slow rate of change in business.
Hi John,
Can I ask how much stuff you have stored away for future recycling? And where you’re storing it? I’ve got such a small flat that anything that can’t be taken away fortnightly by the reycling team just hasn’t got anywhere to be put!
Carole
@Sarah: I hadn’t thought about a party, Sarah; but perhaps we better had eh? 😉
@John Costigane: Hi John, Sadie from Ecover will be putting pen to paper for us on Friday 🙂
Well done on your one year anniversary. 454g of landfill is truly amazing – what a credit to all your efforts.
maybe you are next on the list for a guest post 😉
@Carole Blake: Hi Carole, The list of items includes used cooking oil, aluminium foil ‘ball’, polythene (for posting), aluminium combination waste and plastic lids (recycled to Kristen for fashion lastyear).
The quantities are minimal save for cooking oil which is in 2 plastic milk bottle.
I agree that some space is required and if there is no space my tactics would be to take cooking oil to a restaurant rear-door for addition to their waste. Otherwise, a big envelope of polythene and a large plastic tub (2kg margarine) for all the rest is all I use.
For a family, the amounts could be larger so compromise has to be made. The idea is not for everyone to copy my simple single approach but to do what is practicable.
Part of the challenge is to show that it can be done. Others have made their particular, equally-valid contribution.
The Zero Waste trend in general is looking to grow and have more influence. With people like yourself, and the many newcomers, we can look ahead with confidence.
@Carole Blake: Carole, I forgot aerosol sprays. I have stopped using them but have a dozen or so collected. This is a larger amount which are more difficult to store. The chemical content is another factor.
@John Costigane: John, that is why i have set up my recycling centre in my shed, so that items can be stored until the first recepticle is full then they can all be taken to HWRC, I thought this would be monthly given that we are a family of 4, but with the reduction of purchasing items in packaging I still haven’t been to HWRC yet and we are coming up to 2 months and looking at the space can easily leave it another month.
Items for recycling which can be collected via the doorstep collection are of course put into the wheelie bin and collected fortnightly, although this amount is also reducing and may soon be able to go monthly.
@maisie dalziel: Maisie, That is a fine way to operate in conjunction with the HWRC. Our facilities are more limited so a longer term attitude is required.
As for the kerbside, my recyclables are gradually lessening as reduce takes effect.