Introducing Almost Mrs Average

Who am I, Why am I doing this and why am I blogging about it?

I am your almost average woman, bringing up my almost average family in an almost average household. We're average in most senses of the word, with two children and two cats living in a 3 bedroom house in Moreton Hall, Bury St Edmunds. We have two cars, which is probably the average number but only one TV and no microwave, which is probably less than average.

I decided to sign up for the Zero Waste Challenge because underneath I really don't like waste. I can't stand throwing anything away and I doubt that is good for the environment. Waste management is a pain in the neck, even on a small scale at home. It would be a relief to reduce the number of bins that clog up our tiny kitchen. We have a small one for kitchen waste, a middle-sized one for glass bottles and a large one for recyclables....but sitting next to our kitchen door is a huge 50Litre bin, which we feed with food waste and other nasties before Almost Mr Average and I silently fight over whose turn it is to empty it into the even bigger 240 litre black bin that lurks outside.

I'd love to reduce the amount of black bin waste, both for my convenience and for the environmental benefits it will bring. I know that reducing waste will mean reducing consumption and that should also save some money. I am hoping that the Zero Waste Challenge will help achieve this.

So, why have I set up a blog? I enjoy writing about things that are important to me as well as those that may be of interest to others. Also for me, Zero Waste Week is not about the week itself, but the effort over the next seven weeks to really try and reduce the amount of waste created by my family and stick to it thereafter. Therefore this will act as a very useful diary of our progress. Despite my enthusiasm, you won't find any holier than thou attitude on this blog. There are so many people out there who are much holier than me, which is why I am just your Mrs Average (well almost).


Addendum: Zero Waste Week ended on 17 March 2008. You have to read the rest of the story to see what we threw away, but what about the rubbish afterwards. Well, it's a case of so far so good. But keep watching, there's always a new challenge around the corner.