Valentine's Day Unwrapped

If you're celebrating this day of romance, I hope you've managed to do it with waste in mind. I think I've managed well, having bought nothing but a roll of red paper to cut out lots of red hearts to decorate the house. I promise that once their initial use has passed, they will be re-used or recycled.

Some people won't be spending this morning in such romantic surroundings. Instead you will find them here at a Sustainability Packaging through Resource Efficiency seminar in Lincolnshire, which has been organised by Envirowise, a government funded organisation that advises businesses in environmental awareness. Attendees will be given practical advice on how to reduce waste and packaging as well as the legislative responsibilities of packaging regulations and duty of care.

If you've wondered what happens to paper and card in the recycling process, take a look at the SustainPack site, which has a wealth of information including how paper is categorised.
http://www.sustainpack.com/aap_rwp.html

Other useful resources which outline why paper and card should be recycled include the Waste Online site.

http://www.wasteonline.org.uk/resources/InformationSheets/paper.htm

The following factsheet at www.paper.org also reveals recycling targets for major paper users, including Newspaper Publishers, the Direct Marketing industry and the Periodical Publishers Association:

http://www.paper.org.uk/info/pdfs/Recovery_and_Recycling.pdf

It's all interesting stuff. However, what's more interesting is the little free valentine's gift that came with a present that Mr A bought me from a very well-known store in Knightsbridge. It was already pre-packaged and the first that Mr A knew of it was when it was unwrapped and he is in complete agreement that it is probably the most useless thing ever for his happily married, average-sized wife.

Hmm, I am too embarrassed to put it on Freecycle and the ladies in the local charity shops would most definitely blush upon opening it. And of course, I can't send it to landfill. Perhaps the only thing for it is to send it back to the store, with a little note that says "thanks, but no thanks, who really needs such useless tat?". So if you work in customer services in Knightsbridge and you get a little package from Almost Mrs Average who's on a Rubbish Diet, you'll know why.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. I hope you have a lovely day, wherever you are.

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