A great way for organisations to save waste and cash with WARPit

Below is a copy of my latest column for the Bury Free Press, which is published monthly.  If you've been pondering how your organisation could make better use of Reuse and push unwanted items further up the waste hierarchy, even helping your local community, then do read on.



Karen Cannard: Bury Free Press: 28 February 2014

A few weeks ago, I managed to catch up with Daniel O’Connor, the founder of WARPit, who was making a rare visit to Suffolk. I’ve been following the organisation for some time and was I curious to find out more about successful schemes that have been implemented around the UK.

In a nutshell, WARPit is an online resource redistribution system that helps organisations and departments to lend or give away surplus equipment to internal departments or external organisations that actually need it. And so far the company has helped divert over 132853kgs of waste and save its clients over £787,000 in the process.

Dan, whose background lies in waste management, created the first version of the sharing tool in 2006, using an email list like Freecycle. However, it did not offer enough control to satisfy waste and liability laws, which are a key part of an organisation’s Duty of Care. He also admits it was also ‘a bit of a scatter gun approach’. So, he started to develop bespoke software in Jan 2011, which hit the market three months later.

Now, with 70 customers around the UK, WARPit’s database & network is helping managers save procurement and disposal costs in all sorts of organisations that vary from SMEs to local authorities, schools, colleges, universities, NHS trusts, government departments and charities.

Resource distribution systems for organisations aren’t particularly new. There have been many implemented around the country using basic technology such as bulletin boards and email rings. East of England’s free Eastex network has also been in place since 2004, but has gone a little quiet in recent years.

So what’s so different about WARPit? From a user-perspective it looks very streamlined, with easy-to-use photo-loading and comprehensive listing facilities. However, it’s the links to facilities management and corporate procurement procedures that may provide a real key to its success.

In a case study of its implementation at Scotland’s University of St Andrews, it was described by the Estates Department as “a very effective stock control system, much like an asset register, so that the university is better able to manage its resource use and waste.”

And organisational savings aren’t to be sniffed at. During its three month trial of using WARPit, the university saved £4,129 in waste disposal and procurement costs. Elsewhere, WARPit’s partnership with Northumberland County Council has just won a Society of Procurement award for cutting the local authority’s purchasing costs by over £50K.

Also from a sustainability perspective, in addition to tracking the financial savings of redistributing surplus equipment, WARPit’s management reports allow organisations to analyse their carbon savings for CSR reporting too.

But what I really love about WARPit’s potential, is the opportunity to create reciprocal resource sharing networks between organisations in a town, across a whole county or indeed a whole region. And this raises the bar for developing strategic partnerships within local or regional economies.

For example, Sunderland City Council’s partnership with Voluntary Action Sunderland - which has recently been recognised with a Compact Voice award - passes on surplus resources within the council and to third sector organisations and schools in the city. The effectiveness of the system increases as more organisations join. With more resources circulating, the system serves its community better, making all partners more resilient.

Before leaving, I asked Dan about his most rewarding experience since starting WARPit.

Apparently, it was rehoming 30 pairs of unopened Ralph Lauren brogues, left by an Olympic basketball team who were staying at the University of East London.

Now that’s what I call a really huge challenge, especially as they were size 12-18s!

EXTRA UPDATE:  Please note that WARPit is free for charities.  Other subscriptions are dependent on organisation size.  

Launching Suffolk's very own Waste Reduction Hot List!

Being voted into Resource Magazine's Hot 100 was indeed an honour last week.  I'm still buzzing with excitement!  Thanks again to all who voted and also once more to everyone who's supported The Rubbish Diet and my ramblings.

It has left me with my own burning question, and that's to uncover the Who's Who of movers and shakers closer to home, i.e. the people who make a real difference to reducing the county's waste across Suffolk.

These aren't awards and there's no prize, it's just a bit of informal fun to find our own local heros.  I have my own personal list of favourites encompassing certain friends, community champions, local councillors, teachers, business leaders and waste professionals. But what I want to know is...

WHO'S YOUR LOCAL WASTE REDUCTION HERO IN SUFFOLK?

It could be someone in your family who's always repairing things, a local volunteer who's passionate about sharing recycling expertise or someone who's succeeded at their own personal waste reduction challenge, or on a more formal setting, someone who works in waste who's striving to make the most of recycling.  It may be a teacher who's constantly finding new ways to reduce waste at school or a colleague in your business.  It could be an engineer/designer who's developed a great product that helps to reduce waste.

When it comes to ways to reduce waste, the list is endless.

SO WHO'S ON YOUR HOT LIST?

Don't be shy.  Simply add their details (or nominate yourself) by clicking on the link below.  I'll publish the results on this blog later in the Spring.  Vote now at:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FXBX2C5

Exclusions:  Please do not under any circumstances nominate that blogger from Bury St Edmunds, who talks rubbish incessantly.  Her ramblings and rubbish escapades take up enough of my time.

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.

We've caught the swapping bug! Sustainable Bury launches its first Swap Shop

L-R: Pippa, Fiona & me: Some of the founding members of Sustainable Bury, at our very first Swap Shop. Photo credit: Sandy Jackson. 

I've been to several 'Swap shops' or 'Give & Take' days organised by Transition Town groups around Suffolk. the last one being being held by Sustainable Bungay in September.  I must confess that when I left that event, I was both quite jealous that Bury St Edmunds didn't have such an occasion to get the good town-folk out swapping, but also very much inspired to do something about it.

After all, in Bungay, what I witnessed was not just a great way of motivating people to declutter their unwanted items and let someone else take them home for free, but there was also a fantastic vibrant community spirit.  

Now left to my own devices, that inspiration might have remained a pipe dream due to competing priorities.  However, my visit to Bungay coincided with the gathering of like-minded folk in Bury St Edmunds - mainly in a pub - to organise a new Transition Town community group called Sustainable Bury.  As we were planning our events, I mentioned how much I'd love to bring the Swap Shop idea under our umbrella.  All it took was someone to suggest enthusiastically that we should run one just after Christmas and Bob's your uncle, the first community event for Sustainable Bury was born!  Such is the power of team-work.

The posters went up, leaflets were distributed and we received some great mentions on Radio Suffolk and excellent coverage in the Bury Free Press, but it was still quite nerve-wracking yesterday morning as we got ready for our 'big event'.  Would the good folk of Bury St Edmunds turn up?

Setting out the tables at the St John's Centre.

Thankfully, yes they did!

Including Kim, one of Bury St Edmunds' entertainment organisers.  I never did find out whether she took those funky specs home, but I really hope she did!

The idea was that people could drop off items that they no longer wanted and take anything away that they wished, for free!  If they didn't have anything to bring, they could simply leave a donation at their discretion.  Any items that were left, we simply pledged to donate them to the charity shops, dotted along St John's Street.

As with any Reuse event, the swap shop featured a real eclectic range of stuff.  I loved these little Saki cups.

And this unopened Body Shop gift pack was certainly a great find for its new owner.

As was this Past Times tea cosy. proclaiming "Where there's tea there's hope"!  That might become my new mantra.

I'm really pleased that for our first event we had around 30 people, perhaps even more.  To be honest, we were so busy listening to all the great feedback from the visitors who dropped by that it was really tricky to keep count.   In fact, the feedback that we received was so encouraging, we have decided to bring forward plans for our next Swap Shop, which we will now run in April.

I'm now looking forward to the Swap Shop becoming a regular event that supports the Reuse infrastructure in Suffolk, in a way that is truly fun and brings the community together.   For those who struggle to get stuff into town, it would also be wonderful for satellite events to be hosted by community centres and schools in the the surrounding estates and villages and I would certainly be happy to help get those rolling.

However, Sustainable Bury is not just about encouraging reuse and reducing waste, there are other great plans on the cards too.  There is a real wealth of ideas coming through, so if you have time, do check out this great piece by the Bury Free Press from yesterday's event, which also features a video of our members, sharing some thoughts about what they'd love the group to achieve.

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Sustainable Bury really is in its infancy, so while we wait for its website/blog to be created, more information can be found at the Facebook page or by following @SustainableBury on Twitter.   If you are local to Bury St Edmunds and would like to get involved,  please do get in touch via Facebook/Twitter, email me or alternatively leave a note below and I will be pleased to pass on your details to the team.  The next planning meeting is this Tuesday, 15 January, 7.30pm at the Fox Inn, in Eastgate Street.  All are welcome.

More information about Transition Towns can be found at www.transitionnetwork.org.

A Rubbish Surprise in Felixstowe

Well look who I bumped into today on a family visit to Felixstowe.

We'd just started walking along the promenade and no sooner had we arrived but I spotted my friend Fran Crowe, a Suffolk artist who was setting up her exhibition in one of the beach huts on the sea front.

I met Fran last year after going to see her exhibition Walking to save some sea and interviewed her for the blog a few months later. Since then, we've met up on several occasions for some rubbish chats, so it was really good to bump into her today.

Her mini-exhibition in the beach hut is called Cast Away and is part of Felixstowe's Felixstroll event, which uses the concept of art to encourage residents and visitors to rediscover the coastline while admiring the artwork and taking part in events as they stroll between Languard Point and Felixstowe Ferry.

The aim of Fran's work is to highlight the issue of litter that finds its way onto the beach, inviting visitors to take direct action during their walk and help keep the beaches clean. She is encouraging people to pick up litter that they find and add them to a rainbow picture and other images that she is creating in the small area in front of the beach hut. If people don't want to part with their findings, they can package them up and take them home as a souvenir of Felixstowe. There are also alternative souvenirs available at the beach hut.

Following Fran's advice we decided to take part in the Felixstroll event and walked three miles along the coast to Felixstowe Ferry, discovering places that we'd never visited before in our six years in Suffolk. It's given a whole new insight into what the resort has to offer, passing beautiful scenery along the way.

When we arrived at the more rural setting of Felixstowe Ferry, I couldn't resist dropping in at The Caravan Gallery, which is a travelling photographic exhibition, all neatly packed into .... a caravan...! It's most definitely a portrait of Great Britain with a difference, totally perceptive and thoroughly entertaining and was well worth the walk.

However, after a three mile stretch that took as almost as many hours at a childlike pace, we couldn't face the walk back so hopped on the free shuttle bus back into town, where we dropped off an item of beach rubbish into Fran's evolving exhibition.

The piece of "rubbish"we found is the multi-coloured item that you see us holding in the photo, a peculiar looking thing that possibly resembles a lost dog-toy, which was made out of an old juggling ball and old pieces of fabric.

Somehow, I think Fran might have a good use for it instead of it floating out to sea when the tide comes in.

The Felixstroll was a real fun event, which continues over the weekend. If you're in the vicinity tomorrow, it's well worth popping into the resort for a stroll along the promenade with a difference. Just remember to say hello to Fran. For now, I'll leave you with some of the other sights we spotted today.

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For more information about Fran's excellent work, which can't help but get you thinking about human impact on the environment, visit www.flyintheface.com.

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Updated with extra photos 4/7/09

Behind the scenes at the landfill

I'm so sorry if you're reading this while having your breakfast, but yesterday I popped down to a Suffolk landfill site to do a brief interview with the BBC's Mike Cartwright for News 24.

The story was to cover the news that landfill tax is increasing and that in Suffolk, we have only six years left before our landfill facilities reach capacity.

Suffolk County Council's Assistant Director for Environment, Bryn Griffiths, was also there and it was very interesting to get some extra background info on the challenges of waste management and the problems of methane gas created by biodegradable waste dumped into landfill.

If you've never been to a landfill site, I fully recommend a visit as it is a real wake-up call, even for ardent recyclers.

Just the sight of the bin lorries dumping the rubbish can make you feel ill. Then there's the smell, which is gross and if you are able to hang around long enough, you'll see all sorts of things that could easily be recycled or reused.

Amongst the gone off food, there were old shoes, plates, socks, paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, plastic bags and children's balls, much of which could have been recycled. You name it and it's in there somewhere.


Every time a layer of rubbish is added, the bulldozers cover it with earth. It was a bizarre feeling to realise that I wasn't actually standing on a hillside but on top of a mountain of waste.

At one point Mike Cartwright picked his way through the pile of rubbish, to deliver an intro for the BBC News 24 studio. Now that represents commitment to a job, as does the fact that the news team had spent nearly five hours on location.



Of course a trip to the landfill site wouldn't have been complete without taking my own week's rubbish along, you know the familiar small bag that only the size of my bin's wheel.

But do you know what?

I felt guilty just leaving it there on the side of the bank.


It was a bit like littering.

I know it was a landfill site, but all the same it didn't feel good.

In today's society, we've got so used to throwing things away and today's visit woke me up the fact that there is no such place as away, as once quoted by author Andrew O'Hagan and Anita Roddick.



I once described car boot sales as the graveyard of consumerism. I now know I was wrong. The real graveyard of course is the landfill.

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The BBC, landfill and my own back garden

I know it's April 1st but I promise you this is no April Fool.

When I woke up yesterday morning I had no idea that by the evening I would have a BBC news team in my back garden, filming my recycling habits for today's Breakfast programme on BBC One.

Again, I know it's April Fool's Day, but the issue being covered is no joke. Today the landfill charge is being increased by £8 per tonne of waste in a major step by the government to encourage businesses and householders to recycle and compost more of their waste.

In financial terms, this means that the cost of waste disposal in the UK's landfill facilities will rise from £24 per tonne to £32 per tonne. Until now annual increases have been just £3 per tonne. However it appears likely that we will see further increases at the new level until at least 2010, when landfill tax is expected to reach £48 per tonne.

So it looks like there is something else to hit our pockets. Talk about kicking a man when he's already down and brow-beaten by other economic problems, but if our country has to meet the targets set by the European Landfill Directive, drastic action is needed.

If each and every one of us had to bury our own waste in our own back gardens, surely we would want to do something about reducing it well before the authorities come knocking on our door.

We are simply running out of space in the country's back garden, which we call landfill. Already this week we've seen Plymouth's landfill site close because it is full to capacity. The city's waste in now destined for alternative facilities in neighbouring Cornwall. Our local facilities in Suffolk are facing the same issues, with space expected to run out in six years time.

So it is no coincidence that more and more councils are choosing to change household waste collection to a bi-weekly service, with the aim of encouraging people to reduce their rubbish.

At the moment I don't mind paying the extra council tax that will need to be recovered to cope with the issue, as it will be a while yet before society gets used to having to reduce our levels of household and business waste. I just hope that some of the money collected by government is invested in improving recycling facilities to help alleviate the problems.

However, ask me the same question in a couple of years time when I might be a lot more hacked off if I have to pay for a share for my neighbours' waste to be dumped. I may not be so generous.

In the meantime, consumers should not become the "fall-guys" of waste management problems. The whole manufacturing and retail chain needs to demonstrate significant changes to help us reach the targets set by Europe. Councils across the UK also need to provide comprehensive recycling facilities that are both easy to use and effective. I feel lucky that our local authority offers excellent recycling services. I would certainly not be happy paying a local council for dumping my landfill waste on the basis of poor local facilities.

However, let's look on the bright side as it's not all doom and gloom. I recently highlighted on the Sustained website, the figures from Defra which reveal that non-recycled waste levels were lower in 2006/2007 than those recorded in 1983/1984. Having peaked in 2000 at 450 kilos per person, the annual figure for 2006/2007 was down to 351 kilos per person.

What this shows is that there are lots of folk out there who are already slimming their bins and having talked rubbish with so many others, I know there are plenty more people out there who would like to take proactive action too. We just need to capture their imagination and show them how easy it can be.

Anyway, if you're up early you'll see me briefly demonstrating my own recycling facilities on today's BBC Breakfast and later on News 24. Look closely and you may even get to see my lovely wormery. So it's definitely a case of the early bird catches the worm and all that.

Addendum: Have just come back from an interview at a Suffolk landfill site, which should also be on the BBC1 lunchtime news as well as other broadcasts throughout the day.

Useful sources:

More information on the 2008 budget and landfill tax can be found at Lets Recycle. Waste disposal statistics can be found at Defra.
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They're all at it!

They're all at it in our neck of the woods (officially known as the East of England).

Our Conservative MP, David Ruffley was at it last summer. Suffolk's Liberal Democrats joined in last autumn. It's been happening in Clare and there are intentions that it's going to happen in Newmarket, Bungay, Chelmsford and Aylsham.

The big news is that people in Norwich are also at it today.

So what are they all doing?

Don't worry, it's all legal and above board.

I'm talking about raising the profile of ditching plastic bags. Indeed, today Norwich is going plastic bag free for one day to help raise awareness in one of our region's largest commercial centres.

I'm impressed with the momentum that's been building, not just in the country but in our particular area. However, it's a shame that Bury St Edmunds retailers haven't appeared to have committed yet.

Even though our town hasn't stepped out from the dark side, I'd like to give a quick round of applause to the shops where it is customary to ask if a bag is actually needed. So, well done to Boots the Chemist, Rymans, Woolworths, WH Smith, The Body Shop and Butterworths. If anyone knows of any others, whether they are local shops in Bury St Edmunds or national chains across the country, please give them a shout-out here. The more that join in the better!

I am now inspired to encourage our little suburb of Moreton Hall to become plastic bag free. After all it shouldn't be difficult, as we only have a few shops including a chemist, a Tesco Express and a post office. I have heard that the little Tesco Express goes through about 10,000 bags in a week and that the people who use reusable shopping bags are in the minority. Come on people, what does it take to take along your own bag? Only a little practice that's all!

And if anyone is thinking that degradable bags are the solution, keep looking in as that's another topic worthy of its very own blog post.

Hmm, I think a telephone call to the Tesco Express manager is imminent. Ooohh, I always enjoy a challenge, don't you?

As they say, if you don't ask you don't get! So watch this space!


UPDATE at 5.40pm

Guess what...I rang the manager of Tesco Express, who is keen to pass my suggestions about going plastic bag free through their customer feedback system....so if you have a Tesco Express near you, why don't you try the same.

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After the Party: Recycling Pringles et al.

You've heard the phrase. "Once you pop, you can't stop".

But when you actually do stop because you've run out of Pringles and the party's over, what should you do with the empty can, and other cans like it?

Until now, I've just been bunging the can into the recycling bin, without any additional thought. After all the packaging has a little symbol on it, which looks lovely and environmentally friendly.

Have a look.


It looks like a "Please Recycle Me" symbol doesn't it?


WRONG!


All environmentally friendly consumers, be warned. According to WasteOnline, this symbol, which is called the Green Dot, simply means that the manufacturer has paid a contribution towards the packaging recovery system in GERMANY! It's got nothing to do with recycling potential at all!

Now that makes me feel like a real Dummkopf. Please tell me that I am not the only person in the UK who has misunderstood this lovely looking symbol of environmental integrity. Take a good look at the packaging in your house and let me know what you think.

However, I really hate to be thwarted, so whilst admiring the Packasaurus Ex at the Press Launch the other day, I thought I'd check with the lovely Kate of St Edmundsbury's Waste Team, whether it is possible to recycle Pringles cans.

Much to my relief she said yes. Pringles cans may be recycled at our local Materals Recycling Facility (MRF). However, there is a technique and you can't just bung them in the bin as I've been doing for years.

To make Pringles cans recyclable, the trick is to separate the metal bottom and the plastic lid and throw them in the bin separately. This is so the cardboard component can be easily added to the card at the MRF.

This is great news especially when you think that this product is the UK's number 1 snack, particularly at Christmas, and comes in at number 32 in the Nielson Top 100 Grocery Brands list. That would be a lot of pringles being sent to landfill if recycling facilities aren't available.

However, it does appear that facilities aren't available everywhere.

Apparently we are lucky in Suffolk, where products like this can be processed effectively.

I would love to know what your local facilities are like. Any feedback in the comments would be very interesting indeed.

If you find that they can't be recycled in your area, the only answer for keeping them out of landfill is to send them to the school for junk modelling or try one of the ideas from the site shown below.

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf989247.tip.html

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