Weekly Weigh In 25

This weeks bag weighed in at 187g, so again under my 200g target.

Tom has had some friends around this weekend who have brought sweets etc and obviously the wrappers go into my bin, so taking this into account the total is good.

I finally got my other plastics etc taken to the HWRC yesterday, so that is another job out of the way. I didn't notice any other recepticles for new items this time; but the sign at the gate stated that 80% was recycled this last week.

So a big yah to East Lindsey District Council.

Clearing things Out

I haven't done anything anywhere near as big as The Green Family for WRAPs recycle week but I have been having abit of a sort out in my filing cabinet.

Suffice it to say the hand shredder has been on overdrive.

Also I have sorted out some more old clothes etc which are past being donated to frinds or charity shop, and luckily we have had Bag 2 School collection today at school, so these items haven't been left taking up lots of valuable room.

My aim over the next few weeks is to tackle little areas for say 1 hour at a time so that it isn't overwhelming but the job still gets done.

Any items which may have a resale value will be put with the car-boot sale items. Anything for recycling that can't go into the doorstep collection will be stored in my recycling centre, for drop off at HWRC at a later date. Anything for donation to charity will also be stored for a convenient drop off.

Weekly Weigh In 24

This weeks bag came to a massive 183g. That now averages 260g per week over the 24 weeks so far.

We have had packups over the weekend which always produces more waste, but even the Chinese we had for tea on Wednesday for David's birthday all came wrapped in zero waste packaging - tinfoil containers with cardboard lids or wrapped in greaseproof and paper, and all placed into a cardboard box for ease of carrying.

I have put the wheelie bin out for collection today; this is only the 3rd time since Christmas, so we now start again for the next 6 months to see how few times this can be done.

Followup response from my Council

I received this today via email.

Hello,

Thank you for your email, and my apologies for the delay in responding, we will be looking into the zero waste campaign however it may not be for a while yet.

We are looking to hold education stalls on the relevant markets in East Lindsey during recycle week with the 'Lets waste less' in action and educating members of the public on waste minimisation. I will also try to collect names of those who I speak to who would volunteer on the scheme in the future.

Many thanks

Terri

As part of Wraps Recycle Week they want people to pledge to do something.

My pledge has been made directly to the writer of this in that I have offered to volunteer some of my time for the scheme in the future.

Weekly Weigh In 23

This weeks landfill bag weighed in with 178g.

Which considering we had a mad dash to the local shop for sausages and buns on Saturday night for a BBQ so wrappers there, is very good.

This gives a weekly average over the 23 weeks as now being 263g.

War on Waste - Hilary Benn changes packaging rules

Articles in the national press today are showing that we are getting a step in the right direction regarding excess waste and packaging.

It will be amazing for the UK as a whole if this actually comes to fruision, as we have far too much waste packaging.

Launching the new strategy at the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management Futuresource conference today, Mr Benn said:

“We need to rethink the way we deal with packaging, from production line to recycling bin. The plans we’ve announced today set out how we will achieve that – with the goal of making it as easy as possible for consumers to avoid needless packaging in the first place and to get rid of what they do receive in a way that doesn’t just create more landfill. I also want consumers to play their part by reporting excess packaging wherever they see it – because we’re all in this together.

“In a few years time I want people to be able to shop without having to worry about what they’re going to do with the packaging when they get home, and where it will go after they’ve disposed of it.”


DEFRA have also made some comments on this.

(I have borrowed this from MZW as Mrs Green beat me to this)

Here’s the latest from DEFRA:
“Consumers will see a major overhaul of all packaging over the next decade, under plans announced by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn today.

The Government’s new packaging strategy, Making the most of packaging, looks at the packaging of the future and what our shop shelves and kitchen cupboards should look like if we cut the amount of packaging produced, used and thrown away, and increase the amount recycled.

Under the plans published today, the whole chain from production to disposal of packaging will be tackled:

Enforcement action will be made easier against manufacturers of excess and unnecessary packaging, and consumers will be encouraged to continue to report excessive packaging to Trading Standards;

The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) will work with manufacturers and retailers to reduce packaging for everyday products in line with the best on the market;

The recyclability of packaging will be improved and clear guidance will be provided for manufacturers on designing it with recyclability in mind;

The use of refillable and reusable packaging could be expanded, so in the future customers could have the option of buying anything from laundry detergent to coffee by simply taking empty containers back to shops to be refilled;

The Government will work with local authorities and packaging producers to improve household recycling services, so that in future more types of packaging are collected for recycling;

Recycling rates for plastic, glass, and aluminium will be targeted for improvement. This will mean more ‘recycling on the go’ points introduced in public places for drinks cans, and more glass collected for recycling from pubs, clubs and restaurants; and

Banning of some materials, such as aluminium and glass, from landfill altogether is also being considered.

Add to this that Mr Benn has also indicated that Best Before and Use By dates will also be removed/changed and one catch all date will be used instead which gives consumers a clearer idea of when something will be past is useful date and may infact be harmful if eaten..

Palm Oil Follow Up

I was pleased to see in Sainsburys the other day that their own label frozen fish products not only have the Marine Stewardship Council label but now a flash on the packaging stating that the Palm Oil used is from a sustainable source.

Hopefully other manufacturers will folow suit.

Weekly Weigh In 22

This weeks bag just came in under the 200g target at 198g.

This averages 267g per week over the 22 weeks so far.

Again there were some crisp packets, some jelly wrappers, plastic meat wrappers, a spagetti packet, and a pasta shapes packet. Some chicken bones.
There were also some extra choc bar wrappers (DS2 is back onto packed lunch for the summer), and some sucky yogurt tubes (they were at least Yeo Valley Organic).

The one good thing I noticed when I purchased my cheese from Sainsbury's deli the other day was that the plastic bag now has a type 2 HDPE triangle printed on it stating that most councils will accept this.

I will have to try taking a tub with me next time and see what happens.

Ban the Plastic Bag

Please read the article by The Greenhouse Neutral Foundation over on www.myzerowaste.com and sign the petition.

Alternatively just sign the petition here

Magazines through the Post

I have a weekly subscription to the Radio Times, as not only is it a tv listings guide but also a good read.

I have it on subscription which means it is delivered along with my mail, so no need to go to the shop just to get it.

Just recently I wrote asking if they could change the polythene outer wrapping to a recycled/recyclable paper wrap.

Well today it arrived in a brown paper envelope.

Great I thought they've taken my request on board; then I opened it inside was the magazine wrapped in the polythene and then placed inside the brown envelope.

Needless to say I have just sent another email asking them to sort this out as I might as well just have the polythene and put it with carrier bags at the supermarket than have both.


Below is the response I got to my email sent :

Dear Miss Maisie Clark
Thank you for your email regarding Radio Times magazines.
I can confirm that my manager requested the despatch method was changed as per your original request.
I apologise that this was not done.
I have passed the details back to him for him to make our Despatch Warehouse aware of the problem, and ask that they ensure your issues are sent by Brown Envelope.-- If you require any further assistance, please don't hesitate to contact us.

So hopefully next weeks issue will be naked inside the brown envelope.

Weekly Weigh In 21

The landfill bin this week weighed in at 173g.

I'm pleased with this, as it is again under my new target of 200g. Averaging 270g per week over the 21 weeks.

There were a few crisp packets, a yogurt mix packet, plastic wrap from some meat,a few sweet wrappers, a couple of bits from the bathroom bin and some other unrecyclable plastic.

Hopefully we can continue along this vein over the coming weeks.

The larger kitchen bin has now been replaced by a smaller bucket sized container, and we shall see how this goes.

I will put another plastic tub on top of this for the boys to put anything they are unsure of into, then I won't be fishing around in the bin for items to sort.