Almost Mrs Average gets to speak at waste exhibition

It was a real honour to speak yesterday at RWM, the UK's largest recycling and waste management exhibition, especially as I was sharing the stage with the very inspiring Joy Bizzard, chair of the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC)

The context was very much how local authorities can engage with householders to help individuals and communities reduce waste.  Joy's presentation was packed with advice on how councils can raise awareness and find new ways to inspire new audiences, despite the current economic culture of squeezed budgets.

The area that particularly interested me was the subject of peer endorsement, i.e., the difference that can be made by engaging ordinary members of the public to share their own stories amongst their peer groups.  It's a subject that has fascinated me for a long time and certainly set the scene for me telling my own tale of the Zero Waste challenge that I undertook in 2008 and the events that have unfolded since.

It is an extremely surreal experience addressing an audience of waste and recycling professionals.  I've done it a couple of times before and it's very difficult not to feel like a waste geek groupie, especially when you know how hard officers are working to battle against the problem of waste, which comes with its own set of economic and contractual constraints, misguided government strategies and often divisive public opinion.

And as I said yesterday, I am no expert in behaviour change. I can only tell my own personal story.  However, since taking St Edmundsbury's Zero Waste Week challenge in 2008, I have become more aware of the challenges that exist, the opportunities that are available and the need for formerly disparate groups to work together in accepting increased responsibility, whether that's producer responsibility, local authority responsibility, individual responsibility or from further along the waste chain.

In context to yesterday's event, I really feel that to work towards the UK's 2020 Zero Waste goal, local authorities are going to need to work harder and smarter in engaging their immediate community groups and actively seek out more formal relationships with individuals, who are themselves happy to inspire others within their own communities.

Last week, I made this very point at the Making 2020 Zero Waste Work conference in Coventry.  So you can just imagine my delight, whilst returning home from yesterday's exhibition, I read news of a volunteer training programme that's been rolled out by Zero Waste Scotland.  It's fabulous news that the Scottish agency has already created a blueprint for this and are putting such ideas into practice, having itself been inspired by the Master Composter network.

And for any doubters, who might raise an eyebrow over the effectiveness of such action, I could highlight many examples of personal stories that I've received from my own community where I've seen the impact locally.  But even more significantly than that, I'd like to point readers in the direction of one of the most successful peer endorsement case studies of the last three years, and that's the story of  "My Zero Waste".

You may have to enlarge the photo below, but pictured at the centre of the presentation slide is the Strauss family, who were unknown to me four years ago.  However, thanks to St Edmundsbury Borough Council engaging me in a Zero Waste challenge, and as a result of me writing about it on the Internet and my story being broadcast widely on national radio, word soon got around.  Rachelle Strauss noticed and consequently felt empowered to reduce her own family's household waste.  Driven by environmental concern, she led the way in creating her website, www.myzerowaste.com, attracting a growing community of people keen to seek advice and share ideas about reducing their waste.  This year Rachelle hosted her 4th National Zero Waste Week, a simple grassroots campaign that received over 12,000 hits within just a few days of being announced at the end of August.

Yesterday's visit to RWM was most certainly an interesting one and my only regret is that I didn't get a chance to have a proper gander around the exhibition, but that's only because I was too busy catching up with some of the folk who spend their professional lives trying to inspire others.  I'll just have to make sure I visit next year.

How it all began!

Almost Mrs Average and her Rubbish Diet - The Inside Story

In January 2008, my local council set up a bizarre challenge: for one week in March, in order to reduce the rubbish that went to landfill, participating households should not buy or use anything that produced waste that couldn’t be recycled or composted.

A Zero Waste Week!

Strangely, reducing waste had been one of my new year’s resolutions. I wanted to do something about my bins. So I was keen.

The council were keen. They wanted to know why I was interested so sent me some questions, and they wanted a photo to feature in their local magazine.

I considered this: images of my smiling face, accompanied by bin bags, would greet residents as they breakfasted, lunched or dined. Everyone would know my business.

I didn’t like people knowing my business.

I was less keen.

“But it’s good because you’re average.” They asserted

“Hmmm. I suppose I am almost average.” I hesitated.

I could see their point. This kind of stuff was normally the domain of the Greens, or even the Thrifties. I was neither. I was just an almost average woman, with my almost average family, living in an almost average house in Bury St Edmunds.

But this was not your average challenge. This was something that would take me out of my comfort zone. I would need to challenge and change habits of a lifetime – and those of the rest of my family – and if I was to slim my bin in time for Zero Waste Week, which was only two months away, I would need to take it very seriously. And, as I agreed, I realised I would need the help of others, particularly the Greens, the Thrifties and a whole host of everyday folk who knew more about this kind of stuff than me.

“I know I’ll never do it” I said to Daniel Sage, the head honcho of our council’s Zero Waste campaign, as he was sat on my sofa eight weeks before our target date – 17th March – the end of Zero Waste Week.

“I suppose you could always stop using Clingfilm”, quipped the photographer who accompanied Daniel for the photo-shoot of me and my bin for the council’s newsletter.

"But could I really tear myself away from my much loved Clingfilm?" I wondered. Surely it couldn’t make that much difference, even if I did. Or could it?

So a year ago, my Zero Waste challenge began.

I wasn’t quite convinced that ditching the Clingfilm or indeed anything else would really get me that far. Yet, I was raring to give it a go.

After all, I thought I was pretty good at recycling, not because it was a keen interest of mine, but because I felt I could recycle, so I should recycle and I ought to do my best with the facilities on my doorstep. And we’re always told we should recycle. It’s part of society’s rules.

And having grown up with the mantra “waste not want not” as a child, I’d never really liked the idea of throwing things away. So I’d always followed the rules, but not giving much consideration to why.

(Our WEEKLY landfill waste 12 months ago)

We had two bins – one for general waste and one for recycling. I was always careful about what I did with my cardboard, my paper, and the plastic bottles that came my way, putting it all into my recycling bin.

Then there was my compost bin, which had been swallowing my vegetable peelings for years, not because I put it to good use on some vegetable plot, but because it just simply felt the right thing to do.

I’d also have my lazy days, the victims of which were yoghurt pots with pictures of Noddy and Big Ears, which were too fiddly to wash out so would be bunged in the bin. But I was still frustrated by the amount of stuff my family threw out, including the masses of drinks cartons that weren’t recycled locally, my husband’s holey socks and the kids’ wasted food

It wasn’t entirely out of environmental concern, though that was a factor. It seemed sensible and appealed to the side of my nature that loves a challenge.

But ZERO Waste! Now that definitely seemed an impossible challenge that was right up my street.


MY ZERO WASTE CHALLENGE

Before I could get cracking on my three huge bin bags I threw out each fortnight, I realised I needed a foolproof plan for the next seven weeks. I particularly needed a change in attitude.

So I imagined that I would have to bury my family’s household waste in our very own back garden.

Picture that. Odd bits of plastic, chicken carcasses, crisp packets and kids’ toys buried in your beautiful garden. That was enough to get me motivated.

But I had to keep motivated, so I set up this blog, The Rubbish Diet, the perfect name I thought, because slimming my bin was like a diet, but unlike many other diets this was the only one where aiming for a Size Zero was accepted.

So I announced the challenge to the world. And then I waited for those who had finished watching paint dry, to look in.

And while I waited I wondered who would possibly have the faintest interest in my rubbish? But I didn’t have to wait long to find out because people were interested and began to leave comments.

Even more strangely, I became interested in their rubbish. Before I knew it, I was talking rubbish with hundreds of other people. Advice began to roll in from people all over the world, encouraging me along with top tips about freezing this, recycling that and keeping an eye out for the other.

I even found myself interviewing the odd celebrity and journalist about their rubbish, “gate-crashing” industry conferences, catching up with old rubbish friends and challenging other average folk (such as Jo, Ruby and Mrs Green) to reduce their waste.

And that is how The Rubbish Diet concept was born, with a challenge, a blog and some much needed faith.

As with any other diet, however, I soon realised that slimming my bin was not an unconnected activity. It was linked to my whole lifestyle. It was not just about recycling; it affected how I shopped and the things I bought, right through to how I cooked when I brought the ingredients home. I started to look at every aspect of my life with a fresh pair of eyes, whether I was cleaning the house or enjoying family celebrations. Even school holidays were met with the rigorous tests to see if they conformed to The Rubbish Diet rules.

It may have felt like a mid-life crisis, but what I was really going through was a complete, old-fashioned lifestyle makeover. I revisited everyday habits from decades gone by and updated them for 21st century living.

As the weeks progressed, I became aware that it was not just about me and my family following the rules in our home environment. I gradually woke up to the impact of rubbish on landfill and the environment at large and I began to realise the importance and the urgency of what I was doing.

Finally the big day came and on 10th March 2008 Zero Waste Week began.

It started off badly, when on Day One I cut my finger and was offered a plaster, but we recycled, we composted, were very careful with our shopping and, at the end of the week, that plaster was all my family threw out to landfill.

One single plaster, thanks to some imaginative attempts to eliminate some sellotape and a few sweetie wrappers.

The story was also broadcast on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, which felt as bizarre as the challenge itself.

People now often stop in their tracks when they hear that all I threw out in one week was one single plaster from an unexpected cut. However, the plaster isn’t the important player here.

What’s more significant is since attempting the challenge, the amount of rubbish now sent to landfill by my almost average family can now fit into one single carrier bag.

That’s one single carrier bag per month.

If it wasn’t for the odd clumps of cat litter, we wouldn’t have to put the wheelie bin out for months, or even a whole year.

(Our monthly rubbish: December-January 2009. Just one carrier bag)

However, The best thing about the whole experience is having inspired others to follow suit, a whole host of average people, including ready-made Greens and some Thrifties too. And the funny thing is, a year on from taking up the Zero Waste challenge, I too seem to be turning a funny shade of green and I've become more wise with my pennies too, saving a whole stash of money along the way. Perfectly timed for the Credit Crunch.

I was never the first to slim my bin and I won’t be the last. And there are many others all across the world who live a minimum waste life but don’t shout about it, because it is just part of their lifestyle. It is such a deep part of their nature, they would probably wonder what all the fuss is about.

But there exists a continuous stream of people all over the world who are seeking to reduce their waste and other Zero Waste Weeks have since been rolled out across the UK. Even next week, it is expected that over 1000 households will be attempting their own challenge across the county of Gloucestershire, with Mrs Green and her family leading the way.


But for those new to a Zero Waste challenge, who may feel daunted about taking so much on I say take it easy. Go slowly and tackle your habits step-by-step. And if you're concerned about the effects on your recycling bin particularly at a time such as now, you'll probably find that it will slim down along with your landfill bin. You see it's not just about recycling more. It’s also about reducing your ‘baggage’ in the first place and re-using what you do have.

My Rubbish Diet experience has indeed been serious in nature, but I’ve also tried to show that it’s about fun and that you can still let your hair down. It’s all about enjoying life and allowing your inner cheeky monster to help you deal with challenges that arise. You’ll sometimes need to say no to people and look at your habits with a fresh pair of eyes. And when you start living life with waste in mind, you will find ways to comfortably break free from expectations of 21st century living but without sticking out like a sore thumb.

There will be challenges and unexpected ones at that. But the one thing I have learned is that reducing my waste was a lot easier than I thought and if I can do it, anyone can. You don’t have to be green and you don’t have to be thrifty. You don’t even have to be average. You just simply need the gumption to rise to a challenge that could just change your life for ever.

_________________________________________________________

So that was how it all began, a story which includes some extracts taken from the book, The Rubbish Diet: Achieve Zero Waste in 8 Weeks. However, I also want to tell you how the first year has ended, with the news that my publisher experienced a shake-up just before Christmas, and therefore will no longer be in a position to publish the book. But with the advance winging its way over, and my agent busy looking for a new home for the book, I am still feeling upbeat because this is not the end of the story or indeed my journey. There's no doubt for me The Rubbish Diet is only the beginning of the most wonderful lifestyle makeover that my family could hope to experience. But, there'll be more on that later this week. Come back tomorrow and enjoy some words of wisdom from a whole host of people I've met on the way, including folk who I regard as new friends, and read their inspirational messages.

_________________________________________________________

Spot the difference!

Have you noticed anything different?

Yes?

er...No?

Go on...Have another peek.

It's pretty subtle, so you might have to look more closely.

Down a bit more...that's it...keep going.

You're nearly there.

Yes nearly!

BOO!

Hooray! You've found me, hanging about in the sidebar. (If it's after 15th June, you might have to scroll up again...or if you're reading an rss feed, come over and visit).

So...Hello!

Or should I say "Hello, hello, hello"?

Perhaps it should be "Hi", "Bonjour, "Hola", Buon giorno", "Guten Tag" or "Hallo".

I hope I didn't scare you and sorry if I did.

As you can see, over the weekend I took the decision. Yes THE decision...not just any old decision!

Yep...THE decision... was to stop hiding behind my bin.

I've been there for months now...since January in fact.

Back then it was hard. The skies were gray, the wind was cold and my toes were freezing. To cap it all I had huge bags of rubbish to lug about.

Then Springtime came, with the twittering of songbirds and the pretty sight of daffodils in full bloom. Along came Zero Waste Week, when all I had to entertain me was just one plaster. But they were brighter days and much lighter on the wheelie bin too!

I emerged from the bin a couple of times for a photo here and a photo there as well as a trip to Radio Suffolk.

Then there was the BBC news on April 1st. But that was okay, because I hid behind my fringe.

I've since travelled to London, mingled with big people, ventured on holiday to Monmouthshire and was even brave enough to knock on Mrs Green's door in the Forest of Dean.

So having had a taste of life on the outside, I've decided to come out for good!

I know...other people come out of the closet, I come out from my bin!

I don't know about you, but I was getting fed up of looking at it anyway. And as it was getting slimmer, there was hardly anything to hide behind.

It's now tucked away in the garage because we only need to use it on special occasions.

It's much nicer being out in the open and I can see you properly now.

Thank you so much for keeping me company and for allowing me to witter on.

Don't worry normal service will resume soon.

What do you mean that my wittering is "normal service".

Cheeky!

Anyway I'm off to have fun and explore the world beyond my bin. It's a big world out there, so I hope I won't get lost.

But don't worry...in the words of Arnie..."I'll be back".

See you in a few days.

Lots of love...Almost Mrs Average! xxx

______________________________________________________

Me, Me, Me...Revisiting Almost Mrs Average

Hello, hello, hello. I'm back from my "week off" and it's been a fun old week consisting of experiments with yoghurt, making a Jedi costume and drinking cider with Spandau Ballet's Tony Hadley...

...okay, I exaggerate...Tony Hadley was in the same room while opening the East Anglian Beer Festival in Bury St Edmunds. We didn't quite get the opportunity to chew the fat over a beer, but we did engage in some brief banter while he was posing for press photos on the other side of the bar.

Anyway, we start the week with the news that The Rubbish Diet is featured in our regional newspaper, The East Anglian Daily Times and I'd like to extend a warm welcome to readers who have popped over as a result. Also a huge thank you to Sheena Grant for such a great write-up.

It's fabulous to be back. I really did miss the blog last week.

As ever there was so much happening in the world of trash, I was itching to get out my laptop and add my two-penneth, but in honour of International Downshifting Week, I managed to refrain.

Instead, I took the opportunity to have a good old ponder over the events of the last few months. I still find it bizarre how having reduced our family's landfill waste has led to so much attention and that it has had such an impact on how others look at their rubbish.

However, it really is great when people tell me their stories of how they now rethink their habits, e.g. a mother from school who now uses containers rather than clingfilm for packed lunches, another mum who's changed her toiletries for products that use recyclable packaging and there's regular reader Baba, whose household has even developed a new catchphrase. Apparently "I'll tell Amost Mrs Average" can often be heard amongst the four walls of their kitchen, when pondering throwing things away.

...All from having set up a blog and talking rubbish to anyone who'll listen.

Some people may have described me as an eco-warrior, campaigner or an activist. I'm not quite sure if that is true. I'm just someone who thrives in a creative environment and loves to share a few good ideas (and some frustrations) through the joys of writing.

At the end of the day, I am still your Almost Mrs Average. I'm the same person who set up this blog 3 months ago when I decided to take personal responsibility for our household waste, joining a whole host of other people who are already doing the same thing but who are not eccentric enough or have got better things to do than to write about their efforts.

When you think about it, trying to reduce your rubbish shouldn't be anything special as it's no different to taking personal responsibility for looking after your home and garden, your finances or your diet. It's just a simple lifestyle choice, which like many other decisions offers a positive change to your personal life.

It's like having a blimming good declutter. Call it Feng Shui for your bin if you like and the best thing is, you don't have to be rich, green or eccentric. It's something that an average person can happily attempt, even if it means reducing your rubbish by just 10%.

I suppose you could think of me as an old-fashioned girl who takes advantage of 21st Century opportunities, enjoying modern life with a sensible approach. If I get given the odd carrier bag, I won't fall to the power of guilt in the same way as I don't confuse common sense with obsessiveness.

You certainly won't find me telling people where to stick their rubbish and I definitely wouldn't want to teach grannies (or indeed grandpas) how to suck eggs. That would be rather rude.

I'm just happy to carry on with my tales of ordinary living, some of which will make you laugh and some will make you cringe. I only hope that whatever the outcome, they will continue to inspire.

And on that note, I hope that regular readers managed to have a gander at Ruby's Rubbish update which she posted on her Living in Bury St Edmunds blog. I'll be summarising Ruby's efforts later this week, but the big update is that she's now also set up her own rubbish blog, which you can find at www.rubysrubbishblog.blogspot.com. It's worth taking a look to see how she is being affected by the problem of overpackaging.

Another blogger who will be trying her hand at her own Rubbish Diet soon is Jo Beaufoix at www.jobeaufoix.com. Jo is busy doing an audit on her rubbish this week, so we can work out the easiest way to slim her bins. There'll be more on that soon.

So with Ruby being "Miss April" and Jo signing up as "Miss May", if there are any volunteers who also fancy having a go at slimming their own bins and who want to join up for June, just drop me a line at enquiries@therubbishdiet.co.uk.

I can see The Rubbish Diet calendar coming can't you? - Now that would be a fun project, as long as it could be recycled of course.

The other big feature that is coming up this week is an interview with Andy Hamilton, one of the twins behind www.selfsufficientish.com and their new book The Selfsufficient-ish Bible. So watch this space to find out more about their book, what it was like being on BBC Breakfast's famous red sofa and of course what they've got in their bins.

Oh, and I might also tell you about my visit to the cobblers! Such excitement I know. I always like to leave a good cliff-hanger!
____________________________________________________________________

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.