Suffolk - Join me in a virtual flashmob!

Ahoy there Suffolk!!!

Yes YOU, over there.

Your Rubbish Blogger from Bury St Edmunds needs you!

Yes, that's me over here - whispering at you from my garden shed - not too quietly, just loud enough for you to hear.

I want to create a surprise virtual flashmob for a very important cause that is extremely close to my heart.

Suffolk still has a huge problem with food waste.  This Easter I read that it costs Suffolk residents £3.14 million to dispose of 35,000 tonnes of the stuff.  Shocking stats, I know - and figures like this can make you feel quite impotent, especially when you think of all the embedded energy and water in growing that stuff, only for it to end up in bins and carted off to landfill.

But we can do something about it and this is where you come in, even if you don't create much food waste yourself.

And it all starts with Zero Waste Week, which just as it happens, is taking place next week: 2-8 September.

So where do you come in?

The theme of Zero Waste Week this year is "Use it up", with lots of tips to cut down on food waste, with the key message to "Fill your belly not your bin".

And I'd love you to sign up, take part.  All you need to do is visit www.zerowasteweek.co.uk, click a couple of buttons, select a pledge and you're in!

But don't just let the buck stop with you,  encourage your friends and family too.

After all, our corner of the UK is aiming to become Greenest County and what a way to show our mettle, by creating a virtual flashmob on the Zero Waste Week site!  Oh yes, let's parachute in with pledges from wherever you are in Suffolk

Even if you prevent just a block of cheese from being bunged in landfill, that's a result.  For you it might be some cheese, but for others it could be £10 of shopping that would otherwise have ended up in their black bin.

Now I haven't told Rachelle Strauss, the organiser of the campaign - or indeed any of the team behind Zero Waste Week - of my plans.

I want it to be a right good old virtual flashmob surprise.

So remember, bellies not bins. Show your support now at  www.zerowasteweek.co.uk

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National Zero Waste Week, now in its 6th year, takes place 2-8 September.  No matter where you are in the UK, you can join in too.  So if you care about food waste, please sign up, pledge and tell your friends.  There's also a Facebook Events Page that you can join too.

Don't let the summer end without seeing this

The Clean Bin Movie: Coming to the UK - 23-30 August

Meet Jen and Grant, who have just arrived in the UK from Canada and are getting ready for a five-day tour of their documentary: The Clean Bin Project.

Forget the big budget Hollywood blockbusters that are hitting the screens this summer.  Whether you want comedy, drama or even a touch of horror - in parts - this is the film for anyone who wants to be inspired to reduce their waste.

I first came across the Clean Bin Project blog in 2008, not long after starting The Rubbish Diet. Jen Rustemeyer provided the running commentary to the challenges that she and her partner Grant Baldwin faced with entertaining accounts as they attempted a consumer free year to see who could create the least rubbish.

This was not your 'holier than thou' blogging, more a combination of escapades, frustrations and ingenuity at overcoming some of the regular hurdles that face us all.

And thankfully, they also captured it on camera, creating a very entertaining documentary, which is being screened at five venues across the UK, with a post-screening Q&A with Jen & Grant.

Launching in Brighton this Friday, the full tour list is as follows:

Fri 23rd Aug - Brighton - Brighthelm Centre. Open from 6pm. Starts 7pm.
Tue 27th Aug- Stowmarket, Suffolk - John Peel Centre for Creative Arts. Open 7pm. Starts 7:30pm
Wed 28th Aug - York - City Screen, Picturehouse. 6:15pm
Thu 29th Aug - Shrewsbury, Shropshire. The Old Post Office. 7pm.
Fri 20th Aug- Warminster, Wiltshire. Baptist Church Hall. 7pm.

Entry is either free, or with a small donation/ticket price depending on local arrangements and sponsorship.  Huge thanks go to Freegle, Mid Suffolk District Council, City Screen & John Cossham, Transition Shrewsbury and Wiltshire Wildlife Trust for making these events possible.

It would be really great if you could make it to one of the screenings.  If you can't and would still love to see the documentary, copies can be purchased at www.cleanbinmovie.com.  There are also details of how you can host a screening for your local community.

The Clean Bin Project screenings are happening in time to whet the appetite for Zero Waste Week which follows the week after. Taking place,2-8 September, the theme this year is "Use it Up" and focuses on food waste.  Please do sign up at www.zerowasteweek.co.uk.  There'll be more on that from me soon.

Meanwhile, I hope that you enjoy the Clean Bin Project events, where you'll also get to meet some of the local waste-busters who are running some great projects around the country.

10 million items of furniture are thrown away each year in the UK – let’s change that with Give it for Good

Some of those clever people at Freegle are setting up a new project to increase the reuse of goods and materials around the UK and want to make it easy for people to NOT throw out usable stuff.

Currently in prototype stage for the Brighton & Hove area, Give it for Good offers an easy-to-use search facility showing all reuse options for any item, connecting members of the public with local facilities, including Freegle, social enterprises, charity shops, council sites, community projects, licensed recyclers, businesses. Once you've entered your item, you can decide if you want to give to a charity, to an individual, join a group, pay a collector and so on. Give it for Good will do the research, so you can do the giving. 

This isn't a replacement for Freegle or other online groups - it's an opportunity to attract new members.  Neither is it in competition for reuse organisations – it's a chance to drive more people to them all,  all helping to encourage people who currently just throw things away to re-home them instead by other means. And if you've been watching Kirstie Allsopp's Fill Your House for Free recently, you'll know there's a growing appetite for reuse.

I think it's a fantastic idea but to get the project off the ground Give it for Good needs your help, in the form of a little bit of crowdfunding.  I've dug behind my sofa and scrabbled together some coinage and if you're able to help too, that would be great.  They are trying to raise £15,000 by 30th August so they can run a pilot, which they will then expand more widely around the UK.  More info is available on their crowdfunding page: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/give-it-for-good

Please do have a look at the short video below and check out their prototype page at http://giveitforgood.com/

 The project team can also be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/GiveItForGood and Twitter as @GiveItForGood

For more info, email Cat Fletcher at  GiveItForGood@gmail.com.  

The end of an era and the start of a new chapter

Well, there had to come a point when I pulled my finger out, pulled up my socks and opened my laptop to finally write a blogpost.

I know I've been utter pants over the last few months.

It's not as though I've had no news to share. I've probably had too much and I never even blogged about the impromptu moment I asked the legendary Michael Parkinson about his rubbish.

But now that the school holidays are upon us, this is the first occasion I've had to properly slow down since September last year and stay at home instead of gallivanting around the country.

And this holiday feels like a period of transition in more ways than one.

On a personal level, our youngest has just left primary school and is getting ready to start middle school in September.  Yes, that little man who was only 3 when I started this blog has just turned 9 and is growing up.  To watch him confidently leave one school and be ready to embark on the next stage of his life feels like a real milestone.

Elsewhere, I've spent the last 8 months coming to terms with my mother's unexpected death in December.  Nothing can prepare you for losing a parent and I'm very aware that the constant flow of activities and deadlines this year have kept me very distracted, so much so that when we completed the sale of her house last week, it kicked me so hard that it felt like she'd died all over again.  My mother taught me lots about what's important in life and much of that teaching was in her death.  One day, I hope to share her wisdom - not yet but soon - the wisdom of an average woman who would never have expected to have been considered remarkable but in many ways truly was.  I really wish she was still here to see what's around the corner.  I know she'd be one of the first to laugh at my misadventures and then, without me knowing, quietly share her pride.

For things are changing on The Rubbish Diet front and at a rate of knots too.  Remember that Nesta competition I entered last year in partnership with Cwm Harry and Rachelle Strauss from My Zero Waste?  We're still right in the middle of the challenge and following the success of running the Rubbish Diet in Suffolk and Shropshire (which even saw 22 households in one street taking part in Shrewsbury), the novel bin slimming action is spreading to Ludlow and very soon Powys, the latter of which will be launched during this year's National Zero Waste Week, 2-8 September.   If you haven't checked out Zero Waste Week yet, go and have a peek at its new website and do get involved, especially if you need to get tough with your food waste.

But there's lots happening between now and then.  Don't miss 'yours truly' helping a family slim their bin as part of the Throwaway Britain Tonight documentary, which is being broadcast this Thursday 1st August (9pm, ITV1).  Without giving away the final reveal, I can't wait for you to see how Sandra and her family tackled their waste. 

And to give you even further inspiration to reduce waste, I've been pulling together the first UK tour of the Clean Bin Project documentary, which will see my old Canadian blogging friend Jen and her partner Grant travelling around the UK, to attend screenings of their movie in Brighton, Suffolk, York, Shrewsbury (tbc) and Wiltshire.  The official dates and venues for late August will be published soon, but if you'd like to know more please email me.

But coming back to the most major thing that's happening in my life right now, although I'm taking time out to enjoy the events of the summer holidays and pause for reflection, it's also a time for significant change, especially as the success of The Rubbish Diet trials featured in the Nesta competition has led to much interest from a range of local authorities.

The Rubbish Diet has already travelled a long way from being just a random housewife with a blog.  In the last year, it has developed into a website and a team to support the Nesta Waste Reduction competition.  And now, still in conjunction with the 'Do Think' Tank Cwm Harry (the people who are also behind the People's Design Lab), we are preparing for the next stage, which will see The Rubbish Diet becoming a social enterprise, developed to help households and communities reduce their waste by 50% within as little time as eight weeks.  More info on the next stage will be available soon, as will the final results of the Nesta competition later in the year.  Meanwhile if The Rubbish Diet challenge launches in your neck of the woods, do join in and say hello.

With so much happening it really does feel like the end of an era and the beginning of an exciting and potentially nerve-wracking new chapter.

Thank you for sticking with the rubbish adventures of this Almost Mrs Average over the last five years.  I know there are lots more adventures to be had yet, but from now on it will be in a very different context.

I just hope I will still have time to blog about them.

Tagging along with Hadleigh HWRC to the Awards for Excellence in Recycling & Waste Management

The team from Hadeigh's HWRC, FCC Environment & Suffolk County Council with BBC's Susanna Reid

Yesterday, I had the real pleasure of tagging along with the Suffolk's Household Waste Recycling Centre team to LetsRecycle.com's Awards for Excellence in Recycling & Waste Management. 

The awards, now in their 10th year, and presented by the BBC's Susanna Reid, were held at the Landmark Hotel, London, a beautiful setting to mark the successes and excellence of the recycling and waste management industry, the kind of things that go on behind the scenes that help the UK recycle more and reduce wasted resources.

I've been singing the praises of Suffolk's recycling facilities as part of the BBC Radio Suffolk Rubbish Diet, so it was great to hear that the Hadleigh HWRC was in the running for the category of Community Amenity Site of the Year,

With composting and recycling rates that exceed 90%, Hadleigh HWRC, managed by Suffolk County Council and FCC Environment, has been identified as Suffolk ’s top performing site, with successful and effective day-to-day operations providing an enhanced service to users.

Both Suffolk County Council and FCC Environment have engaged with local third sector organisations including the Ipswich Furniture project and ‘Re-cycle’ both of which are charities that have diverted items from landfill.  Ipswich Furniture Project provides an outlet for furniture and crockery, with ‘Re-Cycle’ giving unwanted cycles a new life.  This has enabled improvements on the recycling performance within the existing site footprint and moves more of the materials up the waste hierarchy, with almost no environmental impact.

The site only has two members of staff during the week and three at weekends to manage all waste streams and maintain the high recycling rate and excellent customer service. Much of the success of the site's recycling rate is attributed to the site staff and their relationship with the public. 

But these awards always bring stiff competition and this year the team was up against the Witchford HRC, in Cambridgeshire and Witley Community Recycling Centre in Surrey.

And the winner was...... well...  sadly not the team from Hadleigh HWRC on this occasion, but another worthy winner, Witley CRC, which is part of a network of 15 facilities managed by Sita, and which has been redesigned with sustainability at its heart and strong community engagement in its development.

Ooooh, so close!  They may not have won at yesterday's event but being a finalist in the awards and one of the top performing Household Waste Recycling Centre's in the UK, Hadleigh HWRC is most definitely a winner in my eyes and it was great to chat to Mel & Terry (pictured above with Susanna Reid) about their stories of what it's like being on the ground at one of our county's facilities. The passion for what they do is so easy to see.

Once again, in a good way, it felt like I was a bit of a recycling groupie following the band, and a very successful one at that.  Seriously, when you witness how the awards' nominees are changing the future of waste, their efforts, successes and enthusiasm really does rub off.

With wide-ranging categories such as High Street Recycling Champion, Commercial Recycling Champion, Best Community Recycling Initiative and Recycling Businesses of the Year, I wonder if next year, we'll see more entries from Suffolk.  After all, from our own Greenest Suffolk awards and some of the great things coming out of the BBC Radio Suffolk Rubbish Diet, I reckon our county could offer up some stiff competition for next year's awards.

Huge thanks to Letsrecycle.com for letting me come along to support our fantastic team from Suffolk.  There were some great winners and finalists, all which can be seen either on the website or by following the updates on Twitter, using the hashtag #awardsforexcellence.

 

Please vote for The Rubbish Diet in celebration of reaching the Brilliance in Blogging shortlist. #BiBs

Click the BiB badge to vote.

I am absolutely chuffed to bits to hear the news that The Rubbish Diet has been shortlisted in this year's Brilliance in Blogging Awards, organised by BritMums, and especially so because it's been included in the Commentary category.

This category features blogs that highlight causes, either through raising awareness or funds, and which are a force for positive change. Topics might be global, local or personal. Whatever the cause, the bloggers shortlisted in this category have been chosen for doing more than their bit, and helping others get involved too.  So to have been nominated alongside so many great bloggers is a real honour.

This news comes at a particular exciting time, having just launched the extension to this blog, i.e. The Rubbish Diet Challenge website, which finally gives people a toolkit to reduce their waste wherever they are, and properly pulls together the learning and experiences of blogging about waste over the last five years.  With over 190 online sign-ups to the challenge (and another 80 offline) in the first 10 days of what has been very much a soft launch, the new site has quickly become the official new home of The Rubbish Diet. 

And it's also become a portal for tracking localised Rubbish Diet projects that are taking place around the country, starting with Suffolk, Shropshire and very soon Powys, sharing skills and local knowledge that can help householders reduce their waste by on average 50% in just eight weeks.  With Wiltshire Wildlife Trust having successfully rolled out the Rubbish Diet as part of their waste reduction campaign and the BBC Radio Suffolk Rubbish Diet recently launched in my neck of the woods, this year feels like a real milestone.  It's no longer just me anymore and that makes me feel like doing a happy dance.

So, if you like what we're doing in helping to put waste higher up the agenda and empowering households and communities to pull-together to slim those bins, please vote for the Rubbish Diet in the Commentary category.  That really would be smashing!

And on behalf of my new team, i.e. my merry band of Bin Doctors, I'd like to thank you for your support.

Of course, should we win...  we'll be sure to recycle the celebratory Champagne bottle as well as the metal cap, the twisty wire thing, the aluminium wrapping, cork and all!

Voting closes on 12th May.

The new Rubbish Diet Challenge website is now LIVE!

After much hard work from a dedicated team, the Rubbish Diet Challenge website is now live and kicking and ready as an online toolkit for anyone who wants to take the 8 week challenge to slim their bin! 

You'll find all you need, including an overview of how it works, some great diagrams and a sign-up form.  Once signed up, you'll receive a series of weekly tips, introducing different themes over the eight weeks.

So if you've been itching to take up the challenge but haven't got around to starting it yet,  there's no better time.  Do pop over to the new website and have a gander.   You can find it at www.therubbishdiet.org.uk. And if you live in Suffolk, Powys or Shropshire there are even 'Bin Doctors' on hand to tell you about their county-wide campaigns which are launching next week, offering extra assistance to help slim those bins.

Talking of which, it will come as no surprise that I'm rolling up my sleeves to help out in Suffolk, along with Kate Kelly, who took the challenge last year.  And we're getting ready to support presenter Mark Murphy, who is championing the BBC Radio Suffolk Rubbish Diet Campaign.  It's going to be HUGE and kicks off on Monday.

That's eight weeks of waste-busting fun in our own county.  We'll be covering all the latest news via a new local blog www.rubbishdietsuffolk.blogspot.com.  So, if I suddenly go all quiet here, you'll now know where to find me!

I hope you like the new website, and if you do, please tell your friends.  Here's to a very exciting new phase of The Rubbish Diet and an ENORMOUS thank you to everyone who's supported it so far.  The next few months are going to be great!

SLIMMER BINS, HERE WE COME!

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