Monday Meeting: The Rubbish Diet Challenge Wk 6

Well, wash me down with some soapsuds. We've hit Week 6 of the Rubbish Diet Challenge, which means after taking time out this week for some much needed personal care, and getting ready for next week's declutter, we will soon be hitting the Zero Waste Week and it will all be over.

But before you can put your feet up and give yourselves a well-earned rest, I'm going to get you to mull over your beauty regime.

So if you've got time for spot of pampering while you ponder your waste reduction challenge, roll up your sleeves, take a deep breath and relax....preferably in the vicinity of your bathroom.

Week 6 is really amalgamating all that you've learned during the last five weeks and simply putting it into context in the bathroom.  There's lots of scope for introducing ways to cut waste, whether it's through reducing disposable items, recycling more or even extending your imagination to composting.

In addition to the mini-challenges shown below, more information can be found in the online guide that accompanies The Rubbish Diet Challenge. Be warned though.  This is the week where it really does get personal.

1.Don't use the toilet as a bin! Of course, I know that most people who follow the Rubbish Diet will not use their loo as an alternative to landfill, but there are some products out there that positively encourage you to do so.  Take "flushable wipes" for instance.  The news is, if you're a wipe flusher - even if it says so on the packet - this is the week to stop.  Don't take my word for it, take a peek at Water UK's Bag it & Bin it campaign instead, which includes a long list of things that should never get flushed into our sewerage systems.  My advice is not to bin it, but to find an alternative solution to creating that waste in the first place.

2.Recycle It! It's easy to forget that many of the containers found on your bathroom shelves can actually be recycled, especially if they are plastic bottles, which are now widely accepted around the UK.  In fact, toiletries are increasingly packaged in bottles that are made from recycled plastic.  And even if you can't put aerosols into your kerbside bin, most recycling centres will take them as part of their metal collection. If you find that you can't recycle the packaging easily, follow the advice from Week 2 and either look for packaging-free products or switch to alternatives that can be recycled in your area, if it fits your budget. For example, some toothpaste products are now sold in PET (type 1) bottles, which can be recycled easily.  Also, a selection of own brand medicines, e.g. Paracetamol, can be bought in plastic tubs instead of the more common blister packs that are tricky to recycle because of mixed material.  So do check your local supermarket shelves for alternatives.

3.Go naked! Not you!  Your products!  Of course, the great waste reduction mantra is to try and "Reduce" before you even have to think about recycling.  So even if you can recycle, you may wish to cut down on the amount of plastic you use.  In which case, shops such as Lush will be able to help with their wide range of package-free products including soaps, shampoo bars and even deodorant bars (Lush also has instore recycling points for customers to return their packaging).  There are also many artisan soapmakers across the UK, who will tempt you away from the plastic bottle, with products that last much longer than liquid soap.  Even if they are not packaging-free, the materials used are minimal.  My personal favourites are Royston and Hayes and The Bellingham Soap Company, which produce soaps made from natural ingredients.

4. Consider reusables: Shhhh, don't be shy.  If you're a lady who bungs lots of personal disposable items in the bin, there is a better way.  From cleansing wipes to the monthlies, ditching the disposables can save you hundreds of pounds, with no particular extra inconvenience!  Take make-up wipes for instance.  The Body Shop sells a neat little pack of muslin wipes, which are totally washable and can be used with make-up remover time-and-time again.  And as for that time of the month, there are washable pads and all sorts of finery to make sure you don't have to send disposables to landfill ever again.  A good place to start is Lollipop.  Of course, if you've got young babies or toddlers, you may wish to think about switching to resuables.  More information on this, including links to schemes that are available can be found at Go Real.  And chaps, don't think you can get off lightly.  Even when it comes to shaving, a traditional razor with replacement blades is far less of a burden on landfill than the disposable plastic alternative.

5. Compost it!  If you've been getting into home composting, there are all sorts of things you can do to entertain your own imagination and use as a conversation starter amongst your friends.  So in your efforts to reduce waste, you may wish to switch to cotton buds (Q-Tips), with paper stems, and bung these in your compost bin when finished.  Of course other natural products such as cotton wool balls can be put in your compost bin too, as can more interesting items, such as the Fairtrade condoms from Oxfam. Now there's a topic for your next dinner party - or not - depending on the nature of your company.  And we haven't even ventured into the area of hair from your brush, paper tissues and toenail clippings. Well that's what my composting friends tell me.  So, while I leave you to think about all things natural that could possibly be composted, here's one more nudge to weigh this week's rubbish.

And on the subject of weigh-ins, our bin slimmers are still going strong.  They've been very much left to their own devices over the last few weeks and have made fantastic progress.  And this week, I hope to catch up with them to find out what's left in their bins, in preparation for their Zero Waste challenge in a few weeks time.   They'll be reporting their Wk 6 results over the next few days and the results will be updated as they come in

1.  Terry-Anna.
Household: 2 adults, in Ipswich Borough, Suffolk. 
WK1 Weigh-in: 1.5 large bags, filling one third of a wheelie bin (fortnightly):  WK 6: 1 very small bag, the height of a HP sauce bottle! With a week to go until collection.

2.  Ness.  @NessyThompson
Household: 2 adults & 5 children, a rural village in Mid Suffolk
WK1 Weigh-in:  2 full wheelie bins (fortnightly).  WK 6: 1/2 wheelie bin - with one week to go until collection.

3.  Donna.  @Donna_De
Household: 2 adults, in Tower Hamlets in London. www.beatinglimitations.com/blog
WK1 Weigh-in: 1 30L rubbish sack. (weekly).  WK 6: 3/4 30L sack

4. Amy. @AmyMarpman
Household: 2 adults in New York City.   www.beyondthebluebin.com
WK1 Weigh-in: 2 bin bags - estimated 9kg / 20lbs. (Weekly) WK 6: 5.4kg/12lbs (covering two weeks)

5: Kate. @BusinessPlumber
Household: 2 adults, in a rural village in Mid Suffolk : www.businessplumber.co.uk
WK1 Weigh-in: 1 unusually full wheelie bin - incl Christmas waste. (fortnightly): WK 6?

6: Jax. @LiveOtherwise
Household: 2 adults, 3 children & a baby on its way, in Suffolk Coast. http://liveotherwise.co.uk/makingitup/
WK1 Weigh-in: 7 small bin bags - filling one third or half of a wheelie bin (fortnightly). WK6?

7.Melanie
Household: 2 adults, 2 children, Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire
WK 1 Weigh-in:  3 large bin bags, almost filling a whole wheelie bin. (weekly).  WK 6: 2 bags.

8.Tim @Dotterel
Household: 2 adults, 3 children, Lincolnshire.  www.bringingupcharlie.co.uk
WK 1 Weigh-in: 1 full wheelie bin (fortnightly). WK6: 3 small bags, 1 week to go until collection.

Don't forget, just because the Rubbish Diet challenge is already in WK 6, it doesn't mean that you can't join in.  Just visit the online guide to catch up with everything you need to do.  There's also lots happening on Twitter too, so to join in the conversation just use the hashtag #therubbishdiet, or tweet @karencannard.

Talking about recycling with Oliver Heath

Last week I was privileged to interview Oliver Heath, designer, architect, television presenter and eco-hero. When he first appeared on BBC's Changing Rooms in 2000, he was described as one of the hottest interior designers around, with his approach being fresh and sometimes controversial. He now has several other programmes under his belt as well as a successful design practice and online eco-business.

Influenced by windsurfing, travel and nature, Oliver Heath's application of creativity in both his personal and professional life is inspirational and thought-provoking, particularly with regard to how he applies this to recycling.

After seeing the recent video that he had made for Recycle Now, I couldn't wait for a chance to speak to him about his passion for recycling, how he applies this to his profession and about his particular fascination for glass.

He was also kind enough to answer personal questions about his bin!



When did you begin to take an interest in recycling issues and what was the trigger?

"It’s a combination of different aspects of my life and is something that I’ve been interested in for some time. I grew up in Brighton and growing up by the sea and near the countryside gives you a great appreciation of nature and the delicacy of it."

"I taught windsurfing for about six years as I was studying architecture and I think a lot of what you teach in windsurfing is about how to protect yourself and look after yourself, teaching people some respect for the environment and making them understand that you’re at its mercy."

"When I chose architecture, those messages of respecting the environment, working with it and enjoying it, fed into the idea of the built environment and how we should be incorporating environmental issues into design, so you’re not trying to push nature out all the time but you’re working with the basics and the physics of it."

"Travel has always been a great source of inspiration. I think travel is important as it helps you to understand that the way we live now isn’t necessarily the right way of living. It’s how we have culturally evolved. There are other ways of living that are perfectly valid and I think it is important to understand that we can change and we can be different. There are better ways of living and we may not have it totally right."



What's the top thing that we should all be recycling and why?

"All waste streams are important and have their valuable contribution but I just think glass is one of the more beautiful materials that can put the message across."

"It is very easy to look at a bottle and chuck it in the bin. You could easily say 'that’s rubbish and I've finished with it' but if you were to have 100 or 200 bottles stacked up in a particular way and turn them into a wall of glass, with the light filtered through, you would see the subtle differences in the colours of the glass. You could create something beautiful. There’s a real transformation when you go from seeing one thing that you can easily discard to seeing it en masse and then realise the value of that thing in its quantity, for example the jewel-like quality in glass."



What's the most amazing recycled material in your experience?

"Glass or stainless steel can be recycled over and over again. Impurities in glass can build up, but stainless steel can have a high recycled content depending on where it comes from. It is extremely durable and can be cleaned easily and reused."



What eco-friendly practices do you apply to your professional services at Blustin Heath Design?

"As designers we always encourage our clients to be as environmentally conscious as possible and to consider that when thinking about the budget for each project."

"We work on a variety of different schemes from architecture through to interior and product design. We think about what kind of environmental approach we can impress upon a project to add excitement, reduce its footprint and also to make it interesting and beautiful. Ideally we want people to live comfortably and well, so we think about how we can incorporate a sort of eco-chic luxury into their homes. We also encourage our clients to put money into sustainable items, low energy appliances and into recycling items."

"Whilst we can uphold environmental principles on a day-to-day basis, e.g cycling to work, using public transport or buying our electricity from a renewable supplier, the greater impact we can have is transferring some of those messages into the built environment and using my media attention to highlight those principles to a wider mass audience."



What extra steps do you take to recycle in your personal life?

"A lot of my clothing is made out of my old clothes, which I take to the tailors to be re-modelled. I also buy clothes from second-hand shops and then get them re-cut. The shirt that I'm wearing at the moment is made from an old one that was cut and stitched back together."

"It’s about putting creativity into something and thinking 'what can I do with it?' Can it be something else?"

"A lot of furniture that I’ve made or built at home is made from recycled floorboards, which can be seen in the Recycle Now video. The walls in my bedroom are also made from recycled fencing panels, which have a beautiful aged quality to them. Combining creativity and recycling can create a whole new dimension."



So what's in Oliver's recycling bin at home?

"At the moment I don’t have a garden and we don’t have a composting collection in Brighton."

"I’ve three different sections in my bin. In one there are glass and plastics, which I separate later on, the second is paper and card, then cans. I’ve also got an equivalent-sized conventional bin for stuff that can’t be recycled."



How much do you send to landfill?

"The proportion of what I recycle compared to landfill is probably about 50/50. It’s difficult to say as I recycle absolutely everything that I can and is all dependent on what the council in Brighton and Hove can recycle for me. I often test them by putting more stuff in the recycle bin. It can be quite difficult with plastics and the differences in the many types of plastic packaging is quite subtle, so I always put more things in to see if they will take it."

"On top of that I'm just about to move house, so I will spend a lot of time emptying my cupboards, taking clothes to trade and stuff to charity shops and will try to find other ways to distribute things that we don’t want or need."



So what is the best way to encourage people to recycle?

"Through helping them understand that the things they recycle will become useful objects again and that there is a life beyond how they actually use them."

"You can help people make the connection between something you throw away and what it could become and enable them to stop seeing material as waste and start seeing it as a resource."


Oliver recently agreed to let the Recycle Now team into his home to highlight how easy it is to make recycled products work in a home environment. If you missed the video, here is another opportunity to watch and be inspired.



More information about Oliver Heath and his work can be found at www.oliverheath.com with links to his professional practice Blustin Heath Design and the ethical and eco-friendly shop which he co-founded, called EcoCentric.

Further details about his work with Recycle Now can be found at: www.recyclenow.com/what_more_can_i_do/recycling_made.html

More information on recycling in the Brighton and Hove district can be found on the local council website.

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Zero Waste Week: Saving more waste from landfill

"Zippahdeedoodah, Zippahdeeyay....

It's still just one plaster that's been thrown away!"

Hooray!


And that was how Day 4 of Zero Waste Week ended...

...but it was close!

I went into our bathroom after my husband, the 6 yr-old Union Rep and his little side-kick had gone off to Work, School & Nursery (I am so glad I got the order right).

There, placed on top of the loo was a can of shaving gel.




I knew what that meant.

Even before I picked it up and gave it a shake, I knew it was empty, because that is Mr A's code.

If it's placed on top off the cistern, it means "throw it away and get me a new one ... (please)".

Of all the weeks! No pressure then!

The aluminium can is something that we used to dump in the black bin, even with the plastic lid intact. However, with Zero Waste Week upon us I had to make the effort and check.

So I rang up the council! (My apologies if that's beginning to sound like a catchphrase).

The lovely Kate in the waste department, must have been wondering what I was going to hit her with this time!

I asked her about the can and she confirmed that it can be taken to the local recycling centre, which is brilliant, especially as I've now got into the routine of collecting the odd loose item that can be dropped off when we're passing. Of course, I can take the lid off first and just put that into our normal recycling.

I wonder whether the recycling centre can take aerosol cans too, if so it means that our local authority would be amongst the 75% in the UK that can process them. Even though 75% is good, I am intrigued why it isn't 100% and would love to find out more about the inconsistency of recycling facilities across the UK. In the meantime, if you want to find out more information about recycling aerosol products, take a peek at the British Aerosol Manufacturing website (BAMA).

My other recycling query yesterday was to Cereal Partners, who manufacture Shredded Wheat, which Mr A bought on his way home from work one evening.

When serving breakfast, I'd noticed that the Shredded Wheat portions are wrapped in paper packaging, unlike other cereal products that use plastic bags or film. It looked like it could be recycled as normal paper, but I decided to ring and check.

I was right. The whole of the Shredded Wheat packaging can be recycled! That was fabulous news and I really think Cereal Partners should include that as a unique selling point in their marketing campaign, as it's a major plus point when you're following The Rubbish Diet!

Now that would start a trend don't you think. Maybe a "TOTALLY RECYCLABLE" label could follow in the footsteps of the ORGANIC, FREE-RANGE & FAIRTRADE markets. It is becoming increasingly evident that consumers who care are wanting proper labelling like this and agree that it would help to influence their purchasing decisions and this is a market in waiting.

However it has also become apparent that as there are so many differences in the collection services that local authorities offer, a "TOTALLY RECYCLABLE" type of label might be misleading if local facilities are not be available for that product. If you have a look at some of the plastic film packaging, you might see the phrase "Recyclable, where facilities exist", which highlights the problem perfectly.

Products are often labelled with recycling logos such as these, which are listed on the Wasteonline site. They were developed by the Society of Plastics Industry (SPI) in the US.

	PET	Polyethylene terephthalate - Fizzy drink bottles and oven-ready meal trays.
	HDPE	High-density polyethylene - Bottles for milk and washing-up liquids.
	PVC	Polyvinyl chloride - Food trays, cling film, bottles for squash, mineral water and shampoo.
	LDPE	Low density polyethylene - Carrier bags and bin liners.
	PP	Polypropylene - Margarine tubs, microwaveable meal trays.
	PS	Polystyrene - Yoghurt pots, foam meat or fish trays, hamburger boxes and egg cartons, vending cups, plastic cutlery, protective packaging for electronic goods and toys.
	OTHER	Any other plastics that do not fall into any of the above categories. - An example is melamine, which is often used in plastic plates and cups.

I don't know about you but it can be pretty hard work as a consumer to keep on top of these labels and the system is prone to confusion, which can lead to contamination of waste, as people get frustrated or indeed have lazy moments.

I think the problem lies in that the industry uses labels and codes to communicate if the item can be recycled, (but even this appears to lack consistency in usage) and local recycling facilities communicate the extent of their facilities by using descriptive terminology, e.g. cardboard, plastic bags etc.

Perhaps it's just me and my need for simple systems, but wouldn't it make things much easier if the manufacturers and recycling services spoke the same language?

It's almost like the packaging/waste management process could benefit from a very simple classification system, you know, the kind of thing that you see in libraries. A librarian knows exactly where to shelve a book, not just because it is about Art, Literature, or History, but because it has a classification label, e.g. 700, 800 or 900 respectively. These numbers also help library users find an item. It's an age-old system that was invented by Melvil Dewey over 130 years ago. When a book is printed, its classification number is often included in one of the front pages, so that librarians across the world know how to deal with it in a standardised fashion.

So what if such a system was applied to packaging and waste management information? If the packaging industry developed a simple Consumer-friendly set of standardised codes across the board and if every council used these codes as part of their communication processes, the consumer might find the recycling process a lot simpler. I know I would.

It would almost be like a game of snap. e.g. if you see a "5" on plastic packaging, all you need to do is check your council's recycling list for a "5" and it would tell you if and how it could be recycled. As we've seen, codes are explicit in a way that descriptions sometimes aren't.

Now I admit to being on unfamiliar territory here, as I have no experience in the packaging industry whatsoever or indeed waste management, but I do have a background in information management and data standards, as well as information dissemination, which is probably why I get so frustrated with the inconsistency and confusion that exists.

Anyway, before I get charged with teaching grannies to suck eggs and how to label the egg-carton, I'll get back to a much lighter note with my other news from yesterday.

Yesterday afternoon I popped up to my son's school, to see how the Zero Waste lunch was going. In fact, the children were doing brilliantly. Very little packaging could be found in the lunch boxes and most of the trays were going back empty. All those who made an astounding effort received a certificate. So here's a big thumbs-up to the Zero Heroes at Abbots Green.

It was a proud moment to see my own son's tray being returned empty, but before he took it off to the washing-up pile, I called him over for a photo opportunity with the East Anglian Daily Times photographer. My 6 year old looked slightly bemused, but played his part beautifully.

The school is indeed an inspirational place for learning opportunities such as this. It already promotes environmentally-friendly schemes, has its own kitchen garden area as well as composting facilities and we've now got hold of a Green Cone food digester, which allows cooked food to be processed. The cone is just waiting to be installed (i.e. to have the waste basket dug into the ground), but it should be great for getting rid of the odds and ends at lunchtimes. Once it's installed, I'll update the site with its progress.

So after an extremely busy week talking rubbish, today's focus will be catching up with overdue work deadlines (after recording the Wiggly Wigglers podcast, which was postponed from yesterday). It will be strange to get back to something that's not connected with the subject of waste, which has of course taken precedence this week.

But I couldn't leave you without pointing you in the direction of this You Tube video, set to the music of Jack Johnson, the same track that Woman's Hour used on yesterday's column for The Rubbish Diet.

Turn up the volume, press play and enjoy!





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