My pledge for National Zero Waste Week decluttering my kitchen the final frontier!

Yes, you heard it here first!

Im going in!

Venturing deep into my kitchen, where for the first time in nine years I am going to attempt to clear out all the cupboards, banish the clutter, get organised and prepare myself for the new school term!

And that is my pledge for National Zero Waste Week, which kicks off on Monday.

The theme this year is to encourage participants to do that "one more thing" to reduce waste.

When I thought about what I could do, I knew that as we already recycle all we can, the only thing left to tackle was food waste. We still have some, not an enormous amount, but some food waste all the same.  And with the wormery still out of action, its the main thing that gets sent to landfill, along sweet wrappers and crisp packets.

I thought if I pledged to use up what we have in the fridge during National Zero Waste Week, and try not to go shopping until wed done that, it would be easy.

Then I thought again.

Thats like putting a sticking plaster on a broken leg.

The truth of the matter is I CANT STAND MY KITCHEN!
 
These days, I spend as little time in there as I can get away with and yet underneath I am a bloody good cook with a sense of adventure for creating good food.

But I need space to create.

I simply dont have it.

And its all got on top of me.

Our kitchen is tiny and as the household has become busier and busier, the space has become more and more cluttered. My previously much-loved gadgets,such as the yoghurt maker in the photo above, have become unused and gather dust, supporting bowls that cant even be squeezed into cupboards for lack of room!

All too often, when Im at my busiest, I take one glance at the kitchen, and sigh, before scooting the family off elsewhere.  Then follows the guilt of trying to rescue perishables in the fridge before they die a certain death. And it is here that I sometimes fail.

So Ive decided that this vicious circle must stop!

I need to clear out the stuff that I will never use again, rehome it or recycle it and find some space in the cupboard so that I can clear the worktop.

I must also decide how much I really need those gadgets and cookbooks.  The breadmaker, juicer and yoghurt maker all sell the idea of such a lovely lifestyle, but if they clutter up the workspace and make me feel too disorganised to use them, is there any point in keeping them?

And as for the sound effects that add to the atmosphere, my washing machine and dishwasher have both started groaning like a poor elephant with a hernia.

It really doesnt create a relaxing environment, so Im going to see if we can get them repaired.

Then maybe, if I make it safely back from my excursion into the unexplored corners of my freezer, I will finally have the quiet, uncluttered, well-organised kitchen I dream of...

... and the creative space I need to avoid food waste!

This National Zero Waste Week pledge may be my toughest challenge yet, but Im rolling up my sleeves and going in and hopefully I will feel better for it. Admittedly, I may need some gin first to avoid the lemons going to waste!

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To keep up with National Zero Waste Week, follow @MyZeroWaste on Twitter.  Now in its fifth year, the awareness campaign is really gathering momentum with a whole host of industry leaders, politicians and celebrities making personal pledges, and even before the week starts, over 800 people have signed up on Facebook. So it would be great if you could join in and do that "one more thing" to help tackle the worlds waste. Just one more thing!  And I doubt it will be as tough as my blimmin kitchen.

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Monday Meeting The final weigh in for the Rubbish Diet Challenge 2012

Welcome to the last Monday Meeting for the Rubbish Diet Challenge 2012.

Last November I put a request on Twitter and Facebook to see if anyone fancied slimming their bins in 2012.  Amazingly eight people volunteered straight-away and at the end of January, when routines had settled back to normal after the festivities of Christmas, the Rubbish Diet Challenge began, featuring weekly Monday weigh-ins and mini-challenges throughout the course of eight weeks.

Eight households slimming their bins in just eight weeks, all living in different parts of the country, including one in the US, all with different routines, contrasting priorities, variations in local recycling collections and wide-ranging household sizes.

But this was not an experiment or a test of perseverance, with me standing over them all with my beady eye.  It was more a realistic timescale, that would give each household the freedom and flexibility to set their own waste reduction goals, and find out the information they needed to reduce their waste in the best way that suited their lifestyle.

For all participants, it involved finding out exactly what they could recycle at the kerbside and further afield in their locality and use the facilities to which they had access. For some it involved buying less or switching to reusable products and for others it also involved having a bash at home composting.

And everyone had a different starting point, including Ness, with her family of five, who had two full wheelie bins each fortnight (often accompanied by side bags), and Jax with her family of 6 (her baby was born in Wk 7), whose rubbish bin was always just a third to half-way full.

However, as others agreed, it didnt matter how little rubbish they thought they were throwing away, times change and services often improve, so each wanted to find out more. And its great to see that in every household, at least a 50% reduction has been achieved, with some households achieving this in the first four weeks and others achieving much much more since.

While most participants were happily settled with their new slimmer bins, three households decided to take the finale Zero Waste challenge for Week 8 of the Rubbish Diet, with Suffolks Kate & Terry-anna, and New Yorks Amy, pushing the limits to see how low they could go.

And my word, did they do brilliantly! Terry-annas bag of landfill rubbish, pictured above, was only half the height of a sauce bottle and Kates household only produced just two mug-sized bags. Amy over the States is also pleased with her attempt at the challenge, producing so little rubbish that theres not even enough to fill half a small carrier bag, and weighing no more than 1.4 kilogrammes.

But this challenge is not just about attempting a Zero Waste Week.  Its actually the build up to that, which is more important.  To quote Tim, who knew that he wouldnt be in a position to attempt a ZW week, "Its the habits Ive acquired during the eight-week programme thatll make the difference".   And you can see the impact of this in his last blogpost about his experience.  Tim had started the challenge with a very full bin.

For many who have participated, even though the guided challenge has finished, their own discoveries towards waste reduction hasnt stopped.  Just as Donna, who slimmed her households waste by 50%, said to me only last week, "It isnt over in 8 weeks - its just begun!"

I think Ness, who orginally started with two full wheelie bins, would agree with that.  As I was leaving her house on Friday, after shed been interviewed for BBC Radio Suffolk, she asked whether it needed to stop there and made it clear that she wants her Rubbish Diet to continue.  Well there is plenty of scope for that as well as having more laughs in the process.

I suppose introducing her to the Recycling Centre for the first time, bringing in a Master Composter to help her compost and poking around her mouldy fruit, have all been interesting ways to strengthen our friendship,  And it is unfortunate that she had a poorly dog, who sabotaged any attempts she had to slim that bin right down last week.  But moving forward, she is now volunteering to get rid of the second bin, which she no longer has a use for.  When she first embarked on the challenge, she was adamant she would keep it as a comfort blanket.  So I am quite sure this wont be the last youll hear of Nesss Rubbish Diet.


But for now, its time for me to hang up my virtual bin-diving gloves for the Rubbish Diet Challenge 2012 and take the opportunity to thank everyone who has taken part, including all the households that have let me follow their waste-busting adventures, as well as those who have been inspired to join in along the way.  Everyone has just been blimmin brilliant and Im also grateful to the Mark Murphy Show at BBC Radio Suffolk, which has followed the challenge from the very beginning.


The list below shows the starting points as well as the final week results (please note that this was not a competition and participants were able to chose their own description of monitoring, which suited them best.  Also some collections are fortnightly, so for those, the list also includes their latest fortnightly results as well as a separate final weeks results). Im still waiting for some of the final results to come in and these will be updated as soon as they are ready. In the meantime, do try and listen to the great interviews that were broadcast on BBC Radio Suffolk last week, with Kate & Ness.

Kates interview: http://bbc.in/wROWm9 FF>> 1h42: available until Wednesday 

Nesss interview: http://bbc.in/w9BdF7 FF>>2h38s: available until Friday

And again, huge congratulations and thanks to all involved, with results that range from 50% reduction to what Id reckon is as much as 95%, I think now might be time to roll out the fanfare.

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): Final fortnight: 1.5 very small bags that are dumpier than an HP sauce bottle.  Final Week:  a small bag that is only half the height of  the sauce bottle.

2.  Ness.  @NessyThompson
Household: 2 adults & 5 children, a rural village in Mid Suffolk
WK1 Weigh-in:  2 full wheelie bins (fortnightly). Final Fortnight: 1 full bin   Final Week: Just 1 bag of normal household waste, plus a rug and plastic from the family dogs unexpected illness.

3.  Donna.  @Donna_De
Household: 2 adults, in Tower Hamlets in London. www.beatinglimitations.com/blog
WK1 Weigh-in: 1 30L rubbish sack. (weekly).  Final Week: 1/2 30 rubbish sack, plus one-off polystyrene packing.

4. Amy. @AmyMarpman
Household: 2 adults in New York City.   www.beyondthebluebin.com
WK1 Weigh-in: 2 bin bags - estimated 9kg / 20lbs. (Weekly) Final week: 1.4kg/3lbs

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) Final Fortnight: 1 small swing-bin bag:  Final Week: 2 very small bags, approximately the height of a coffee mug.

6: Jax. @LiveOtherwise
Household: 2 adults, 3 children & a baby, 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). Final Fortnight: Approx 5 small  bags worth of rubbish, filling only half the bottom layer of the wheelie bin.  Final Week: 2 small bin bags and some bits of polystyrene.

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).  Final Week: half a bag.

8.Tim @Dotterel
Household: 2 adults, 3 children, Lincolnshire.  www.bringingupcharlie.co.uk
WK 1 Weigh-in: 1 full wheelie bin (fortnightly) Final Fortnight: 3 small bags, filling just the first layer of the bin with room to spare. Final Week:. 5 small bags.

Dont forget, just because the Rubbish Diet challenge 2012 is all over, it doesnt mean that you cant have a go in your own time. It can start whenever you like, just visit the online guide to catch up with everything you need to do and follow the weekly ideas.  And if you want to join in the conversation on Twitter just use the hashtag #therubbishdiet, or tweet @karencannard.  And do keep an eye on the blog over the next weeks, as I will be including an updated list of links and resources that will help you further in your waste-busting ventures.

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