Can it get any better than this?

One week's rubbish, two year's on.

I’ve often wondered what life must be like several years after doing a Zero Waste Week. So you can imagine my excitement in discovering the Baker family from Bath who took part in a similar challenge two years ago

Judith and her partner Simon signed up to the challenge, along with their teenagers Matt and Laura, when Bath and North East Somerset council launched their first Zero Waste Week in 2006, a concept which had just been introduced to the UK from an idea that had already been spreading around New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to talk to Judith about her thoughts on waste and what initially attracted her to the original challenge.

“As a post-war baby, I had grown up with the waste-not-want-not message.” She told me, “My family were already behind the idea of leaving a smaller footprint on the earth and the Zero Waste Week supported both these ideals.”

Before their Zero Waste Week challenge, the family weighed their rubbish, two bin bags (swing bin size) which came in at 4.5 kilograms. By the end of the week they had reduced this by 80% to an amazing 900g, amounting to just half a bin bag.

Judith was already used to recycling, sorting newspapers, magazines, greetings cards and scrap paper, as well as glass bottles, jars, tins, cans for their kerbside collection. They were also lucky to have plastic bottles collected too along with batteries, textiles and shoes. Everything was sorted into plastic bags for their fortnightly collection. They generated very little food waste, so this wasn’t a problem. They also composted their peelings and whatever scraps were left would always be put out for the birds.

With excellent recycling facilities and with a garden waste service to boot, which also accepted cardboard, it might have seemed that there was nothing else to tackle. However this was not the case.

“Things like plastic fruit punnets weren’t collected by our council,” said Judith “neither were yoghurt pots or margarine tubs. We would also have had a problem with Tetra Pak cartons and polythene bags but I found out we could recycle Tetrapaks, posting them to Perry’s in Bridgewater and we could send magazine wrappings, frozen vegetable bags and bread bags to Polyprint in Norfolk”.

After all this effort I wondered what did actually end up in their Zero Waste Week bin two years ago. Judith enlightened me.

“Just some miscellaneous plastic packaging, such as crisp packets, a plastic tray from a tiramisu and a croissant wrapper as well as some scrambled eggs and baked beans that went wrong, which in retrospect could have been put on the bird table”.

Having made a massive reduction to their household waste, I was also keen to find out whether this effort was sustained after Zero Waste Week. What was the impact of the challenge and how much does the family now throw away?

Judith revealed “We now throw out one swing bin’s worth of rubbish per week. We learned a lot from the challenge and I have continued sending my polythene wrappings to Polyprint. It costs £1.52 per month to post a package weighing just under 500g. It would make things so much easier if the council collected all types of bags and wrappings. We also continue to recycle Tetra Paks, but no longer have to send them to Perry’s thanks to a recycling service set up by the council.”

This is a fantastic example of how once an individual or a family experiences such a challenge, life can never be the same again. Admittedly the amount of rubbish went up after Zero Waste Week, but the reality is that there is a regular reduction of 50% that has been constant over the last two years. It really does demonstrate the longevity of the effects of such a campaign on a family’s lifestyle.

The great news is that Judith has signed up for the Zero Waste Challenge again, the one that is currently being organised by Bath & NES, which is taking place this week. The only change in the family circumstances is that son Matt has now gone off to university. I wanted to find out what she thought might happen this time.

“I know that plastic will be my downfall,” she asserted. “I will make an effort not to acquire certain plastics but I don’t have access to a street market which would help to reduce this. I also know the bathroom bin will be a problem. We all wear contact lenses, so there will be a mass of plastic pods. There is also the problem of new types of polythene packaging, such as the bread bags introduced by the Co-op which are labelled Oxo-degradable. These can’t be recycled so will have to go to landfill.”

I managed to catch up with Judith on Wednesday evening to get an update about how things were going this week. Just like in 2006, the first task was to weigh the amount of rubbish from the week before. Quite timely for the Bakers, Day one was also Bin Day. So how big was last week's rubbish?

"We only put out one bag, which weighed a shade over 2 kilos, well under half of what we used to put out before ZWW 2006. More than half that 2 kilos was one single item - a large tub of tile grout, nearly full, which had gone off since the last time we did any DIY and was unusable. If I treat the grout as one-off or exceptional item, I was putting out just under one kilo, or roughly the same weight as I did at the end of ZWW 06. So we haven't been backsliding too badly. "

That's a great starting point, just one bag! But how were things faring by Wednesday night, Day 3 of the challenge? I asked Judith to have a quick check on their current rubbish.

As she poked about her bin, this is what she had to say.

"OH NO did I really put the eggshells in there? Shame on me. Into the compost with you, my beauties, along with the tealeaves (a moment's inattention from someone who shall be nameless). The rest is crisp packets from packed lunches and a few of those pesky semi-degradable plastic wrappers, unsuitable for Polyprint. But there are notable absences: no yogurt pots this week because I bought a brand which comes in a re-usable clear pot with a cardboard stiffener, and the chocolate mousses came in earthenware pots which are eminently re-usable."

And is there anything else?

"There is still a bit of clingfilm but a lot less than usual. I have been trying to give it up, honest. It's just that it is so very useful for covering left-overs in the fridge in such a way that I don't forget they are there ...So half-way through, I can see that even now it won't be zero waste, but I am hoping for an improvement on last time."

Well, I think that's fantastic and I am looking forward to their final weigh-in next week.

If Judith does end up with any rigid plastic containers, she will save them up until she has a decent amount to mail to GHS Plastics in Portsmouth, which I recommended to her after seeing the company featured on MyZeroWaste.com.

I’ve also got some some more news for Judith and anyone else who’s participating in a Zero Waste Challenge. As well as GHS and Polyprint, I’ve discovered that Impact Recycling in Kent will accept deliveries of a whole host of household waste items, including the plastic punnets that Judith found tricky the first time round. The great news is there’s not a minimum requirement, just a simple request to sort items into separate bags.

So that's another source that will help the Bakers slim their bin even further, even if something odd pops up like a cracked CD.

There are still a few nerve-racking days until the end of the challenge, so while we’re waiting to catch up with the Bakers next week, you might want to find out more about the resources mentioned in this post. The links are listed below:


GHS: Tel: 0808-100-1456
www.ghsrecyclingltd.co.uk

Impact Recycling: Tel: 01634 255400
www.impactrecycling.co.uk/what.htm

Perrys Recycling (office recycling): 01935 850111
www.perrys-recycling.co.uk

Polyprint Mailing Films: 01603 721807
www.polyprint.co.uk

And please remember, if you're planning on sending items through to the companies concerned, please call first to check their current arrangements.

More information about the Bath and North East Somerset's Zero Waste Challenge Week, can be found at www.bathnes.gov.uk
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Party On Dude: The zero waste birthday party has arrived! (well almost)

So today I am a mother of a seven year old. How grown up do we both feel!

It all started with an early awakening. All I remember was that it was dark. And then there was the excitement at the Birthday Sack that had been left at the bottom of Little J's bed.



Thanks to an earlier comment on the blog, instead of buying wrapping paper, I'd bought the gorgeous sack from Cavern4 in Bury St Edmunds. At £12.00 I figured it would save me a whole lot of wrapping in years to come and that delving into the sack would be as much fun for excited young boys as ripping off wrapping paper.

His presents included a book from his brother, a box of figures from us and a digital camera bought with the money sent by his grandparents and other relatives. A Kodak 7.1 megapixel bargain at just £40, which will be far more longer-lasting than a blue plastic toy camera bearing a similar price. The camera was used for the photos on today's post, so you can tell the quality.

So off to school he went, with plans for a special birthday lunch, while I prepared myself for his low-key birthday tea!

Of course I wanted it to be as Zero Waste as possible. And as it happened, it was. More by fluke than good planning.

As ever I made it up as I went along, in my usual style, commonly known as flying by the seat of my pants! And this is how it all came together....

1. We only invited 5 close friends, plus his brother! Our parties are normally bigger, which means more food, more expense and more waste. I replaced written invitations with verbal invitations, which saved both paper and money.

2. We reduced the party food to just pizza, with tomatoes, carrots, cucumber and some Pringles, as well as pineapple, cheese and ham to decorate. I'm a busy working mum now, so I'm afraid this year I relied on the shop-bought stuff, but all the packaging was recyclable thanks to our local facilities. If it wasn't I would have stuck to sandwiches or home-made pizza. So thank goodness for our mixed plastic film depository eh - that got me out of a potential big hole!



3. For the first time ever I refrained from buying matching disposable tableware and reused some plastic cups, which I recovered from a school event last year. I've now got a supply that will last me years! The napkins and tablecloth are reusable too. The pretty plastic plates had been borrowed from a friend. I didn't want to buy paper ones and no way was I going to risk our china!

4. I went to great efforts to make the food look attractive, using a star shaped biscuit cutter to create ham and cheese stars. Great efforts indeed! It only took me five minutes! It also paid off with fabulous looking pizzas. The very few leftovers were bunged in the Bokashi bin. Despite my own hunger there was NO way I was going to pick at those, not with the tummy bugs that are circulating around school at the moment! My legs are already feeling wobbly!

5. The dessert was bananas. How boring you might think, but not yesterday's 'nanas! We turned it into a game, offering strawberries and sweeties as decorations, to see who could make the best banana picture. The plates were all cleaned up with the exception of a couple of leftovers, which ended up in the compost bin. Little T was the official photographer, so he didn't have time to peel his own banana but he still mustered a very quick effort.



6. We ditched the modern game of "pass the parcel with a prize in every layer" and replaced it with seven different party games. Each game had one winner, and we had an awards ceremony at the end of the party with just one prize for each category, including the best dressed pizza, best decorated star, best banana picture, best smile, best dancing. Yes, I know I'm an old cheapskate, but we also had good old-fashioned fun such musical bumps, musical statues and musical chairs.

7. The prize for each child was 10 penny sweets in a paper bag, bought at the local sweet shop that morning, followed by a lap of honour at avoiding the plastic Haribo multipacks! Yes I know I can recycle them, but it was one less thing to worry about!

8. I also ditched the party bag in favour of a tube of Smarties, which Little J wanted to give as a thank you to each child. I'm not sure I should admit that they were the large Christmas stocking versions that retail at £1. In retrospect, the little ones would have been enough but the kids thought they were fab as well as the pottery star that they'd painted as a party activity.



9. And finally, the cake, a Doctor Who Tardis, in packaging that I can recycle. I know I could have opted for a home-baked one, but I need more practice. I've actually had six years of practice but both the birthday boy and I thought he could do with a break! There's only so much lemon drizzle a young boy can take.


10. And nobody noticed last year's candles!

And as we waved goodbye to all the very excited little children at the end of the party, tootling off with their little balloons, I realised there was very little mess.

I also realised that for a party it had been very cheap.

Party food £12.
Sweeties to decorate bananas: £1.50
Prizes (little sweetie bags): 70p
Pottery stars £3.50
Smarties £7
Balloons (already blown up at the party shop because I'm a lazy old hag) £1.75
Cake £8.69

Total £35.24

Well that's the cheapest party we've held in a long time! There was a time when I would have spent £35 on party bags alone! So that's not bad for 7 kids. If I'd made the cake and the pizzas, I could have saved even more!

So today, we're celebrating 7 years old and 1 day. As well as a slim bin at home, the only thing in other people's bins will be a Smartie lid and a balloon, unless of course they know about composting balloons.

So I think I need a nice cup of tea to celebrate, not forgetting a piece of party cake of course, before I head off to another party this afternoon.

Life's just one big social whirl!

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Coming of Age

Seven years old today!

That's the age of Little J, the defender of my bin. It's his birthday today and it's such a special time. When I think about it, it doesn't seem that long since he was born.

I remember it so well, as though it were yesterday. He was born at 35 weeks into the pregnancy, which was classed as a "borderline" premature delivery.

On the morning after his birth, I remember lying on my hospital bed sobbing as quietly as I could so nobody would hear me. I was just coming around from a very hard labour, having experienced an emergency caesarean at some bleak hour in the night.

Mr A had gone home to rest after an intense 48 hours in the hospital, leaving me with our new baby at my bedside. The drugs from the caesarean had made me woozy and I was only half-aware of the nursing staff sneaking my baby away into the darkness of the night, gently whispering that they needed to check him over. When I woke in the morning I panicked because he was still gone.

The pain prevented me from getting up. So I desperately rang the bell for the nurse. She came and told me my baby's blood sugar had dropped, so he'd been taken to Special Care. It was only when Mr A returned to the ward a couple of hours later did we go down and welcome him properly into the family, with kisses, cuddles and his first feeds. The interim wait felt like agony.

He remained in SCBU for two very long weeks. While I, after 8 days in hospital, returned home without him, feeling emotionally fraught about our temporary separation and not knowing when we would bring him home.

As I said, I remember it well.

But why share this story on such a happy celebratory day? I hadn't planned to reminisce. I was going to tell you all about the very average birthday tea we're planning for this afternoon, with a handful of children from school. An event with few frills, but lots of good old-fashioned fun and jolly celebrations.

But thinking back to the birth and the early upset, has brought back a number of other memories, including the panic over buying emergency nappies. I suppose sharing the story now provides a backdrop for a confession as well as a contextual setting for understanding human nature.

You see, I'd planned on using washable nappies. I'd been working right up to the 34th week of my pregnancy and was looking forward to spending some time before the birth to decide on which nappy system to use. With a pregnancy-addled brain, it had all looked too complicated to consider whilst still juggling my professional duties.

But no-one expected the 35 week drop, so to speak.

So reusable nappies dropped too, right off the list, as I coped with the emotion of an early arrival, the painful caesarean, a separated baby, followed by troubles with feeding as well as painful colic that lasted three whole months.

From a new mum's perspective, you really do know that you should use washables, but the urgency of life with your new baby takes priority over the urgency of landfill, which lies in a distant hole far far away from home.

And as habits formed, with the convenience of disposables, new issues arose such as teething, weaning and so on, until it was time for potty training, when at last I breathed a huge sigh of relief and an even bigger sigh of regret that I hadn't been brave enough to switch nappies earlier. The guilt of landfill loomed large and the savings I could have made seemed enormous. So I shrugged my shoulders with the promise of next time.

And when the secondary pregnancy arrived, almost three years after the first, I rushed off to our local baby store, bought a washable nappy system, including a bucket! I felt as pleased as punch that at last I was actually doing the right thing.

Little T was born, on time, but again by an emergency caesarean. We were soon whisked home and he donned his washable nappies with an air of success.

For three weeks I was as ecstatic as a mother can be. The baby was comfortable. The nappies were easy to wash and the stains came out brilliantly too.

Success you might think.

But if only it had been so easy.

He started being sick about four times a day, vomiting over himself, over me and over the sofa or at least the towels covering it. After a number of medical checks, and a huge backlog of washing, he was deemed to have something called Reflux which continued for almost nine whole months!

And this is where this confessional ends, as I hold my head up high and say that second time round I failed miserably too. The nappies were like the straw that broke the camel's back. With a very sick baby, there was only so much washing a woman could do without moving permanently into a launderette.

At least by then the scope of my failures was lessened by the emergence of Nature Boy & Girl nappies, made from cornstarch.

So to all new mums out there who may be struggling to live up to the same expectations, with the same guilt that follows, I just want to say "I understand". I know what it's like in a "been there, done that" kind of way.

So don't feel guilty.

But don't be like me either.

I got into my routines, I got used to my habits and I stopped thinking outside the box.

So if you've still got the urge and if you've still got time, check out the alternatives while you've got a chance to try something new. I lost my chance a long time ago and am now responsible for burying about 9,000 nappies in landfill.

Just think, it won't be long until your baby's potty trained and out of nappies and very soon you'll be celebrating their seventh birthday. They'll even have teeth falling out all over the place. Such joy!

On that note, I've remembered I've got a birthday to celebrate and I can't wait. So I'm off to join in the fun! Perhaps I should apologise for the shop-bought cake before I go. But nah...that's one thing that won't be zero waste!

Now where did I put last year's candles..........?

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**** For a guide to reusable nappies, visit The real nappy campaign. ****

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Don't wear a wheelie bin on your first date!

That's right!

Just in case you're tempted by the idea, today's advice is that you should never wear a wheelie bin on your first date!

You will look silly and the residual stench could make your date run to the hills. And what a shame it would be if you missed the chance to impress them with your personality.

Before you think I've gone completely off my shopping trolley, last night I noticed a very unusual Google search that brought someone to the blog...all the way from Australia.

And yes the search was "Don't wear a wheelie bin on your first date!"

I'd love to know what the Googler was looking for and whether they found it. I know Zero Waste is big down under so maybe there are a whole range of uses for the ubiquitous wheelie bin, including applications of the sartorial kind.

But then I thought... wouldn't it make a great movie title for a romantic comedy! I can see it now, our very own Simon Pegg, starring alongside someone like Kirsten Dunst...

...Waste officer meets sassy PR city girl. Late on his first date, he heads straight from a recycling campaign, unable to extract himself from his promotional wheelie bin and there unfolds the battle of his love of zero waste against her fully formed wasteful lifestyle. In the face of adversity, they finally get it together. But who reforms who? Does he end up throwing it all in in the name of love, or does she become an anti-landfill luvvie?

So who was the Googler from down under? Did they end up wearing a wheelie bin on their date? Is Simon Pegg interested? Have I gone completely mad?

Time will tell, so stay tuned for the next installment....

"Don't wear a wheelie bin to your wedding"

I'm such an old romantic, but I think it's now time for a coffee.


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Is Zero Waste coming to your area?

Today marks the beginning of Zero Waste Week in North Somerset, Bath & NE Somerset and South Gloucestershire and Bristol.

Just Gai, who is based in Bristol, has signed up for the challenge and is busy blogging about her experience over at zerowaist.blogspot.com. She's doing brilliantly so do visit to see how she gets on this week.

However not everyone is celebrating such challenges, particularly the Conservatives who have allegedly criticised councils' plans. Indeed Eric Pickles, the shadow local government secretary, was quoted in the Telegraph as saying:

"We are entering a brave new world of fortnightly rubbish collections that we all know is going to fuel a surge in fly-tipping and backyard burning. This is not a responsible or practical way of encouraging recycling but merely a cleverly disguised form of propaganda attempting to peddle the benefits of fortnightly rubbish collections for town halls. This is bureaucratic convenience, without any public benefit."

I'm not into politics but I would have thought the Tories would have been happy to have less waste to deal with when they finally take over the reins of government, whenever that might be.

Personally I've been happy with fortnightly collections for nearly 5 years. I'd rather this option than have my council tax go up to cope with weekly collections. I'm also happy to have gained new knowledge of how I can reduce the rubbish we create. I really feel like I've broken out from the system and am now using my own free will and choice, regardless of what collection arrangements the local authority has in place.

Anyway, I don't think we should let anyone spoil the party, whatever their politics, especially as there are lots more Zero Waste events coming up. Over the next few months the idea of waste reduction is also being promoted in Cornwall, Norfolk, North London and Gloucestershire. So if an event is happening near you, then please join in. The key dates are:

4 - 12 Oct 2008: Watch Your Waste Week - North London
20-26 October 2008: Zero Waste Week - Cornwall County Council
27 Oct - 2 Nov 2008: No Waste Week - Norfolk County Council
26 Jan - 1 Feb 2009: Zero Waste Challenge Week - Gloucestershire county Council

And if anyone needs any extra convincing about the long lasting effects of participating in zero waste activities, pop by later this week when I will be chatting to a family that took part in Bath and North East Somerset's original challenge two years ago.

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A "Grim" but Cheeky Diversion

Retail Therapy

I went shopping to Sainsbury's on Monday!
I came home and twiddled my thumbs.

I went shopping to Sainsbury's on Tuesday!!
I came home and twiddled my thumbs.

I went shopping to Sainsbury's on Wednesday!!!
I came home and twiddled my thumbs.

I didn't go to Sainsbury's on Thursday.
Instead I typed 3,000 words.

By Friday, I could see the irony!
The subject? Retail therapy.....My problem? Writer's Block!

Somehow, discovering polystyrene-free pizza proved just the ticket as did falling for the temptation of frozen pies, ready-made sauces, 30 chocolate mini-donuts, a huge tube of Smarties and six cans of cloudy lemonade.

Not my normal purchases, research only. I guess there's nothing like experimenting with other products to expand the mind and keep the cogs in motion. Not sure I could keep it up though, my recycling bin might groan with the strain and I'm already a few pounds heavier!

Anyway if you're looking for polystyrene-free pizza, try the Goodfella's range in the frozen department. Absolute Genius!

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