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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Im feeling all decluttered after National Zero Waste Week

What a week!

I must have been absolutely out of my mind to suggest that I decluttered my kitchen for National Zero Waste Week. Nothing like pressure eh!

When I first mentioned my plans to my husband, he threw me one of his looks, accompanied by hands on hips, warning me that surely Id got the wrong idea.  That really, I shouldnt aim to chuck so much out during a week intended to slim our bin.

Having ventured nowhere near the far corners of some of the cupboards for... er... 5 years, he had a point.  I really didnt know what I would be up against!

But look!  The overhaul of the kitchen cupboards didnt impact on our rubbish at all. 

That small bin bag, pictured above, is the sum of our landfill rubbish last week, despite getting rid of a load of stuff!

If I had attempted the declutter five years ago, it would have been a different story.  Not least because I probably wouldnt have gone to the trouble of sorting it.

These bags full of unused baking equipment and storage containers would still have probably gone to charity.

But most of this junk, now destined for the reuse ecycling skips at the Household Waste Recycling Centre would have no doubt ended up in the bin! Thankfully, these days our local facilities include containers for broken hard plastics and small electricals, which helps tremendously when youre in the midst of a blimmin good clear out!

And as for this wonder drawer of mixed tat, my impatient hand would have dumped it all in a bag and got rid of it within minutes.

Instead, I set aside an hour to sort it properly, sending some random bits of plastic off for recycling and organising the rest of the stuff so it can be easily found and used.

Even the freezer, where our leftovers historically suffer a frozen death, received a visit from the decluttering hand, which helped to salvage a sausage casserole, a packet of mince, some fish, a dozen chipolatas and some bacon rashers,  This enabled me to happily avoid the supermarket for a week, using up what we already had.  I am such a lazy defroster and rarely plan ahead, the freezer proved to come up trumps as a right little goldmine during Zero Waste Week.  My aim now is to gradually work through the rest of the contents and relieve more space so that I can use it more efficiently.

But did I really achieve my overall aims last week?

Yes! I believe I did!  Working my way through this.

And creating much needed space in the cupboards to achieve this!

What pleases me most is that I am finally in control of the contents of my kitchen.  It took five days of sorting and clearing and no area has been left untouched. What helped me along were the wise words of a friend who reminded me that unwanted stuff left at the back of cupboards was just as wasteful as if it had been dumped into landfill. I am now confident that everything that I have kept will be put to good use. All the unused clutter has been rehomed and will no longer be wasted.

Of course my key aim was to create much longed-for space, so that I can put my creative culinary skills to good use again and be far better at avoiding food waste.

I can already see the return of the old me and I have been busy cooking up the random contents found lurking in the fridgefreezer. And having rediscovered a whole cupboard of flour to use up, benefiting from that space once more has really proved to be the icing on the cake!

I now wonder which room I should tackle next!

So thank you to everyone who left supportive comments as well as all the Twitter crew who cheered me along during the week. 

As well as having my head firmly in the kitchen cupboards, I have also been busy waving the flag locally in Suffolk for National Zero Waste Week.  Huge thanks to BBC Radio Suffolks Mark Murphy and James Hazell for giving me some much appreciated airtime.  And a major round of applause to Barry Peters, the editor of the Bury Free Press, for taking up the Rubbish Diet Challenge and doing a marvellous job for his own Zero Waste Week.

Well done to MyZeroWaste for an amazing awareness campaign for 2012. I was proud to support it.  For more information about what else was going on around the country, visit www,myzerowaste.com.

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Whats in store for National Zero Waste Week 2011

Ive just realised that the title of this blogpost makes it look like I run a shop.  So apologies to anyone who thought I might be doing a stock-check or reorganising my merchandising cabinets with a special twist for Zero Waste Week.

Sorry, this is more of a talking shop than a retail space, but if there are any stores who are applying innovative ways of reducing the amount of rubbish they stock, then please do share your news here. After all, the theme of National Zero Waste Week 2011 is "Reducing waste away from home", so if youre doing anything to help reduce the amount of trash that you pass on to your customers, then your comments will fit in nicely.

So what is happening at Almost Average HQ for Zero Waste Week?  Well, unlike my very first attempt back in 2008, Ive had diddly-squat planning time.  Not that Im good at planning anyway, but I suppose five minutes preparation would have helped things on the homefront, as would actually being at home, instead of zipping around the country on a secret mission.

Of course it would have also been useful to have reminded my husband and kids last week, particularly to avoid the surprise of arriving home this weekend to much excitement that theyd treated themselves to a huge multipack of crisps and 20 blimmin Capri-Suns.  Someone must be having a laugh!  We never normally have such things in the house, not necessarily due to being pedantic about packaging, but weve got no room in our cupboards for starters, and besides I dont trust my willpower!  But great timing eh!  Bought just in time for Zero Waste Week.

So things on the homefront will be more of a challenge than usual then!  Thats why the kids have gone into battle against my husband to see who can create the least rubbish this week!  Personally,  I think Ill leave them to it.

But of course the focus of this years NZWW  is reducing waste away from home, so whilst head-to-head challenges are taking place behind closed doors, Im more interested in opportunities to reduce waste while out-and-about and will be keeping my eyes peeled for good practice as well as being on a personal mission to avoid superfluous bits of plastic that commonly pop up in the catering trade.

Im travelling again at the end of the week, so will make sure Im appropriately kitted out to avoid all the rubbish that typically gets thrown at you when on the road.  Having read that sentence again, it sounds like Ill be wearing protective shields and defending myself with some form of waste-busting laser gun.  Im sorry if that makes the reality of a refillable coffee cup and water bottle sound far less exciting.

This week Im also on a mission to get more recycling bins on the streets of my local town.  I know were pretty lucky to have two, but for the size of the town thats pretty pants, especially as theres not even a single recycling bin in the town centres Abbey Gardens.   So this week, Im taking the attitude of  "if you dont ask, you dont get" and proverbially speaking, getting off my backside to wing over an email to some local authority officers and councillors.  Ill also email my MP, asking him to look at the wider picture at a national level.

And on the subject of bins, Im still on the hunt for photos for the 1000 Bin Challenge.  Its the final week, so Im going to have to do a tally soon of the number of photos that Ive collected over the summer.  Ive got a sneaking suspicion that I am nowhere even near the 1K target, so Im going to need your help more than ever.  To find out how you can help, pop over to www.1000bins.com and send in photos of any recycling litter bins that you spot in your town.  You may even be in with a chance of winning a georgeous ring pull clutch bag by Bottletop or a fabulous Waste-busting kit from Onya.

So I think its safe to say National Zero Waste Week 2011 is officially launched at Almost Average HQ.  Huge thanks to Mrs Green at My Zero Waste for organising it.  To find out more about how you can get involved, visit www.myzerowaste.com, where youll get more tips than you can shake a stick at.  And if you want to get up-to-date with what you can recycle in your area, pop over to www.recyclenow.com for the official lowdown.

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Moreton Hall café helps customers reduce waste with their Keep Cups

Meet Lucy and Jess, business partners at The Coffee House, a popular café in the heart of Moreton Hall, which itself is a busy housing development on the edge of Bury St Edmunds.

When I dropped in with the family on Day 1 of Zero Waste Week, I warned them that Id start talking to them about ways in which they help customers reduce waste. I was particularly interested in the success of the Keep Cups that they sell, i.e. the reusable coffee cups, as shown in the photo below.

I noticed that theyd been selling these since the café opened in October last year. Priced at £7.99 for a small cup and £9.99 for the larger one, whenever a customer brings in their reusable cup, they receive 10% off the price of their drink.

The reusable cups have been a real success for the café.  Jess confirmed that theyve sold approximately 250 since they opened last autumn and normally have around 10 customers popping in with them each day.  As we were chatting I realised that I was holding up one of their customers whod dropped in for coffee and when I turned around, I couldnt help but notice that there in her hand was one of the reusable cups that wed been discussing.

(Charlotte, a Keep Cup customer)

Of course once the coffee discussion was over, my seven year old naturally brought my attention to his Zero Waste choice of the day....a selection of sweets from the sweetie jars on the counter.

The rest of his purchase wasnt quite ZW though.  Even though he declared hed try and reuse the straw from his small carton of orange juice and thatd hed be sure to recycle the little box, theres not a lot you can do with the protective plastic wrapper. However, that was negligible compared to the Capri Suns that he bought at the weekend and all round was pretty much of a success.  Im not sure about his older brother though, who insisted on the plastic straw to go with his favourite chocolate milkshake. Unless he reuses that a few times over, hes already behind in the rubbish stakes.


So if youre ever visiting Moreton Hall, whether its during Zero Waste Week or another time, be sure to pop into The Coffee House, where youll always get a very warm welcome and a discount if youve got your own cup.  And if youre a keen gardener, you can take away some free coffee grounds for your compost too.  Now that is a bargain!

The Coffee House, Moreton Hall, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

More information about The Coffee House can be found via their Twitter stream @thecoffeehouse5 or their Facebook account.

If youre a regular coffee drinker whos looking for a replacement to disposable cups or run a café and are interested in saving landfill waste too, check out the reusable cups that are available at www.keepcup.com as well as the BYOcups that are sold by Onya. 

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This post was written as part of National Zero Waste Week 2011, thats taking place between 5-11 September. The theme this year is Reducing waste away from home.  For further details visit http://myzerowaste.com/zero-waste-week-2011/

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Wipe Out Waste Welly Boot Camp

I love my job!  Thats if you can call being a roving rubbish-busting blogger a job, I suppose its more of a vocation.  However, no matter what you call it,  I am just appreciative of the places I end up and the brilliant people I meet in the process.

And this week my adventures took me from the East of England to the West Country, from Suffolk to Somerset, where I teamed up with a host of eco-mentors at a "Welly" Boot Camp for a national schools award called Wipe Out Waste.  And trust me, this competition is so cool, Jools Holland has even produced the theme song.

The Wipe Out Waste programme is the brainchild of the fabulous Karen Ford, the founder of its platform organisation Footprint Friends, which was launched to raise awareness of environmental issues amongst 10-18 year olds.

Karen Ford, founder of Footprint Friends and Wipe Out Waste

Wipe Out Waste is about reaching out to these children, asking them for innovative ideas that could potentially be pitched to industry or rolled out to all schools to help eliminate waste.  And last years winning entry is a great example of how the competition can really make a difference to participants and industries that are involved.

Ringwood School Hampshire were last years winners.  The team is pictured above with Yeo Valleys Graham Keating and eco-mentor Giles Aspinall from The Magdalen Project.  It is thanks to their idea and their working relationship with Yeo Valley that the yoghurt manufacturers HQ was the location for the boot camp.

I witnessed Ringwood Schools pitch during last years Wipe Out Waste finals, which was for yoghurt pots to be made from standardised plastics that would be easy to recycle across the UK.  They had already contacted yoghurt manufacturers as part of their research and Yeo Valley welcomed their questions and ideas with open arms.  The winning team has since visited Yeo Valley on a number of occasions and has become involved in discussions about improving the plastics used.  The team from Ringwood also came along to the Welly Boot Camp as mentors for this years entrants and it was clear from conversations how both the school and Yeo Valley have benefited from the competition and the direct link-up.

Coming back to this years shortlisted entrants (pictured below), the Welly Boot Camp was a fabulous opportunity for school teams from right across the country to meet a range of eco-mentors who coached them through confidence improvement tricks, presentation skills, media training as well as offering a chance to brainstorm their ideas with industry professionals.

Schools included: Abbots Hill School, Hertfordshire; Dixon City Academy, Bradford;  Hollyfield School Kingston; The Mountbatten School, Romsey; Sidcup School; St. Lukes, Exeter and 

St Timothys, Glasgow.

After such an intensive programme, representatives from each team delivered a brief presentation to the rest of the audience about their experience and what theyd learned from the day.  I couldnt help but be struck by their confidence, enthusiasm and was quite overwhelmed by the realisation that standing in front of us were such an amazing range of leaders.  We often think that children are the leaders of the future, but actually it became pretty obvious that with their ambition and enthusiastic delivery these young people are actually leaders of today.

Im now looking forward to the finals, where the shortlisted schools will each get an opportunity to use the skills they learned from this weeks boot camp and pitch their ideas to a group of green dragons, some of whom were part of the eco-mentor team, including my lovely pal author and broadcaster (and WOW project manager) Tracey Smith, the Carbon Coach aka Dave Hampton and Good Energys Joe Wadsworth, who are pictured below with the rest of the team.

Back row L-R, John (Professor Fiddlesticks), Giles (The Magdalen Project); Karen (Footprint Friends); Joe (Good Energy); Julian (The Environment Agency).  Front row L-R: Me; Ben (Footprint Friends); Dave (The Carbon Coach); Tracey; Robin (EatWeeds.co.uk); Martin (New Energy Thinking); Graham (Yeo Valley)

The only people missing were the guys from media company Nice and Serious, who were no doubt off filming somewhere.  So its a good job Id snapped Tom and Matt at work the night before:

The results of the competition will be announced in the Summer, when the schools get a chance to present their ideas in an environment that is very similar to Dragons Den.  Having chatted to most of the shortlisted schools, I can already see its going to be a tough decision for the judges.

So watch this space for a summer update and in the meantime why not get prepared to encourage your local school to enter next year...or at least for now join in the Wipe Out Waste sing-song, which you can hear in the video below:



The song is also available to download via  iTunes.

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Launching Suffolks very own Waste Reduction Hot List!

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

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

These arent awards and theres no prize, its 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...

WHOS YOUR LOCAL WASTE REDUCTION HERO IN SUFFOLK?

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

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

SO WHOS ON YOUR HOT LIST?

Dont be shy.  Simply add their details (or nominate yourself) by clicking on the link below.  Ill 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.

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Slimming your waste at work a Suffolk case study

Regular visitors to this blog will be familiar with my passion for slimming down our rubbish at home, but I am also a sticky-beak when it comes to finding out what goes on behind closed doors in organisations across the country.

Inspired by my recent Smart Mums visit to British Gas, where I managed only a passing glimpse of their internal recycling activities, I was keen to find a smaller company closer to home that would allow me to have a poke about their own waste management facilities.  I really dont think I could have found a finer example of corporate recycling.


Music Sales is an international company which specialises in music copyright, printed music, book publishing and digital distribution. It also has 20 music shops that fall under the MusicRoom brand as well as 125 affiliated stores around the UK.

Rob Child, who manages the companys waste stream took me on a tour of their distribution centre, which is based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

The first thing that struck me was the relevance of Robs role within the business. Until fairly recently he was responsible for managing the procurement of packaging materials that are required for distribution.  It was only 18 months ago that a newly appointed Head of Distribution had the vision to expand his responsibilities to incorporate waste management.  

Waste is something that Music Sales cannot take lightly. The company distributes to the public as well as trade customers in over 100 countries and its online business provides access to over 250,000 products.  From a waste management perspective, this means a heck of a lot of packaging coming through its warehouse door.

The companys trade waste service is provided by St Edmundsbury Borough Council.  Until 18 months ago, much of the packaging waste was landfilled and Rob explained that when he took over the waste management role, the landfill skip was collected two or three times per week.

These days, their landfill skip is now only collected just once a fortnight and as a result, their waste management bill has dropped by two thirds.

That is a startling saving, which has been achieved simply by diverting recyclables out of landfill through easy in-house segregation.

The warehouse now separates cardboard, paper and plastic film, which are common materials that travel through its distribution facilities.  These are sorted by staff into the crates that are provided before being baled ready for collection.

When you consider that last year alone, 90 tonnes of paper were handled by the distribution centre as well as 10 tonnes of plastic packing, responsible procurement and recycling processes can make a huge contribution to the companys waste footprint.  Rob recognises this and since taking over the waste management role, his own procurement processes have led to a focus on packaging that contains recycled materials as well as products that can be more easily recycled.

But the companys waste reduction activities dont stop there. As well as core business recycling, Music Sales takes legal responsibility for its electronic waste.  Rob also encourages staff to use desktop recycling boxes and recycle their coffee machine cups and refillable Thermos flasks were provided to staff in the warehouse, which has helped to cut down even further on waste.  Dotted around the site are trade-waste equivalents of the wheelie bins that St Edmundsbury residents can find at home, which means that staff can also recycle aluminium cans and mixed plastics.

In just 18 months, the culture at Music Sales has totally changed and Rob is pleased with the fast turnaround.  A waste audit conducted by an independent company a year ago revealed that they were already achieving so much, they couldnt find any other way of improving their process.

Personally I think the transformation of the companys waste stream is a real success story and it would be great if it could inspire other businesses to follow suit.  Not only has the business seen a great financial saving from diverting recyclables from landfill, but Rob and his colleagues are also delighted with the contribution that the company is making regarding sustainability.

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Branded corporate gifts that help reduce waste

 

 Catching up with The Green Desks Yasmin Halai-Carter at 
UKAware 2011

 
This weekend saw me scoot down to London again to visit UKAware, the UKs largest and longest running contemporary sustainable lifestyle exhibition

This was my third annual visit and I have to admit, it was a great excuse to catch up with some of my old friends and have a good mooch around to see whats new.  As ever, I came away buzzing with excitement over the amazing projects I saw, but having had a press pack for the first time ever - and having been accompanied by my six year old, who is a magnet for freebies -  I also noticed I was laden down with stuff!

And it really got me thinking about all the conferences and corporate events out there, where freebies are giving out willy-nilly, to get brands right under the noses of the people with the purse-strings.  Yes, Ive been used to a career packed with squashy balls, mouse mats, and laptop bags, not to mention the ubiquitous and equally useless gym-kit style bags to fetch them home in, with carrying strings that bury deep into your hands, but in recent years Ive trained myself well to refuse most branded clutter.  You know...applying that age-old mantra of REDUCE!

However, at UKAware I was intrigued by the alternative options that are now available for the more eco-conscious corporate merchandiser and naturally my antennae turned towards the cool stuff that actually helps people reduce waste.  I thought Id include some of my findings here.


BAGS

If youre giving away reusable bags at your conference or exhibition stand, thats a great thing to do right?  Well, yes, its a step in the right direction towards waste-busting giving, but wouldnt it be better if that bag was made from recycled materials in the first place!

Thats where Onya comes in, with its range of branded bags that are made from recycled PET bottles.  Ive been a fan of Onya bags ever since I saw them during my first visit to UKAware and I dont think you could get a bag that is more lightweight or which is so easy at being packed up.  It even comes with its own pouch and clip to make it easier to carry around.  For more details visit www.onyabags.co.uk.





GADGETS

It may be my inner geek shouting here, but I just LOVE these USB batteries that I discovered in my goody bag.  With a house full of remote controls, handheld game consoles, cameras and other gadgets, these energy-packed miracle workers are just the thing!  Again, Im a long term fan and have even been known to add some to my kids Christmas stockings and they love them too, as you just bung them into your USB slot to recharge, saving a fortune in batteries in the process.  As well as selling branded batteries, Ive noticed theres also a commemorative pack for the Royal Wedding.  More info about these funky little batteries can be found at www.usbcell.com.


STATIONERY

And heres another personal favourite, the staple-less stapler, helping to reduce the office workers dependency on steel.  This one is branded with the Green Desks web address, which also happens to be the company that sells them.  It comes with a great quote that reads "If every office worker in the UK used 1 less staple a day we would save 120 tonnes of steel a year".  Wowzer!  For more branded products like this, as well as everyday sustainable office items can be found at www.greendesk.org.uk.


So, Im pretty happy with the freebies that I picked up at UKAware this year.  It just goes to show that businesses dont need to give their customers ready-made landfill as part of their marketing strategy and can instead offer items that can actually save them money and help reduce their waste in the first place. You just need to find the right places to look and UKAware is just one of those places that is well worth watching for solutions that match your brands ethics.


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UKAware is now selling exhibition stands for its Bristol event, which takes place on 18th-19th June 2011.  For further details, please visit www.ukaware.com.  And if youve ever wondered where the organisation sources its promotional T-shirts, just check out ethical clothing company Pier32.
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Almost Mrs Average gets to speak at waste exhibition

It was a real honour to speak yesterday at RWM, the UKs 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.  Joys 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.  Its 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.  Ive done it a couple of times before and its 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 Edmundsburys 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 thats producer responsibility, local authority responsibility, individual responsibility or from further along the waste chain.

In context to yesterdays event, I really feel that to work towards the UKs 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 yesterdays exhibition, I read news of a volunteer training programme thats been rolled out by Zero Waste Scotland.  Its 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 Ive received from my own community where Ive seen the impact locally.  But even more significantly than that, Id like to point readers in the direction of one of the most successful peer endorsement case studies of the last three years, and thats 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 familys 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.

Yesterdays visit to RWM was most certainly an interesting one and my only regret is that I didnt get a chance to have a proper gander around the exhibition, but thats only because I was too busy catching up with some of the folk who spend their professional lives trying to inspire others.  Ill just have to make sure I visit next year.

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Teaming up with energyshare Hexam River Hydro

It is very rare that something pulls me away from talking about rubbish, but when I was asked to team up with an exciting hydro energy project thats competing for energyshare funding, it was far too interesting to miss.


Energyshare has been created by River Cottage and British Gas, jointly managing a campaign whereby communities across the UK have applied to energyshare to have their project funded. These communities have been shortlisted into a small number of finalists, all looking to have their project funded up to the value of £100,000.

The competition has also been supported by Channel 4’s Three Hungry Boy’s who spent five weeks touring the South West over the summer, visiting communities just like those shortlisted for energyshare funding. Trevor, Thom and Tim were challenged by River Cottage’s Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall to live off the land and barter their way around the countryside, sourcing the energy for their electric vehicle from renewable technologies.

Today the finalists have been announced and campaigning has now begun in earnest to help generate public votes to choose the winning communities.


All the finalists are brilliant in their own way.  The community that I am supporting is Hexham River Hydro, a fabulous project which will create a100kW community hydro power generation scheme on the River Tyne in Northumberland.   It is a joint initiative by Hexham Community Partnership and Transition Tynedale and for anyone who, like me, has grown up or lived near such a similar powerful waterway, it is very easy to get excited about the possibilities of harnessing such energy.

However, this project is not just about generating renewable electricity, it is also about securing sustainable funding for social and economic regeneration and community activities in the market town of Hexham and its environs, as well as creating an education and awareness-raising tool for residents and visitors alike.

When I say, Im very excited about this project, I really mean it and cant wait to get to meet the people and the community behind it. Having spoken to team member Gillian Orrell, this afternoon, I am now looking forward to a trip up north to find out more about their hopes and plans. This project may seem that its about technology, but at the heart of it, its really about people and harnessing the energy around us, without impacting on the environment itself.  Its amazing to think that it will generate approximately 700MWh of electricity per year – enough to satisfy the average electricity consumption of 150 households, whicle reducing Hexham’s carbon emissions by approximately 400 tonnes CO2 per year.

With such localised energy supply, it is also deemed a project of national significance that will be of interest to other similar communities around the UK.

I will be able to report on my discoveries next week, but in the meantime, if you are over 13-years-old and have just two minutes to spare, please get voting at the energyshare website.  More information about Hexam River Hydro can be found at www.energyshare.com/hrh. So, please pop over and if you like what you see, please do hurry and vote for them.

Voting is open until 5pm on 3rd December with the opportunity to win one of 5 books that River Cottage is giving away every day to voters. Furthermore, for the energyshare Group that gets the most supporters voting, there is the chance to scoop a £1,000 cash prize.

So please do get involved now and visit energyshare.com/voting.

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This is a sponsored opportunity on behalf of British Gas. However, all the authors views are her own.

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Zero Waste The international scene

So, my adventures in Zero Waste continue in California and on Wednesday I attended the Zero Waste International Alliance Dialog, which brought together representatives and interested parties from the USA, Canada, British Columbia, Brazil, Colombia, Sweden, UK, Italy, the Philippines, Bhutan, India, Australia, China and Hong Kong.

Rick Anthony, Chair of the ZWIA, (pictured above), opened the conference with a history of how the Alliance was developed and how things have moved on from what started as a passion to protect resources from landfills through recycling facilities, to a multi-action programme of now diverting those resources from incineration and reducing waste at source through redesign.  The international Alliance now provides a sound umbrella group for supporting national programmes through the sharing of knowledge and solutions that demonstrate Zero Waste in its true form (i.e. without the alternative of burning) is possible.

The programme of presentations featured experts who have embedded successful solutions in their own countries, working with communities, politicians, manufacturers and technologists to ensure the development of waste management solutions that protect the resources for recycling back into the system.

This is a great slide from Ruth Abbe, from the US, which simplifies the keys to achieving better resource management to a rate of 90% though physical & social infrastructure, with the remaining responsibility for the journey towards Zero Waste in the hands of the manufacturers and legislators to redesign products and ban those materials that cannot recycled or broken down through organic treatment.

Paul Connett, a chemist and international speaker on the topic of Zero Waste, who many now know from his contribution in the Trashed Film, explained in more detail the 10 steps to Zero Waste, which are summarised as follows:

A key theme that Ive picked up from the success stories in Paul Connetts presentation and the those that have been highlighted in my trips to San Francisco and Europe is the significance in making waste visible. i.e. to really find out what is being burnt or buried.

Once communities have a handle on that and the associated volumes, debates can then lead to solutions, whether through front end source separation, better community communications, waste hierarchy interventions or feedback to manufacturers for redesign.  It was reinforced again that if there is a political will to adopt this pathway towards Zero Waste, it is possible to embed alternative solutions to those that involve burning resources.

According to Paul Connett, the three international areas that are leading the way with embedding the true Zero Waste goals are Italy, Spain and California.

Again, like the NCRA conference, there was much to learn from the information exchange and here are some of the key points I picked up.

1. Canadians create the most municipal waste in the world, with only 33% being diverted through recycling and composting, but they are tackling it and Zero Waste Canada was created in January 2013.  As well as the challenges of developing its infrastructure, it looks like Canada will also have to protect one of the great things that already exists which is its deposit-based bottle reuse programme, which is currently at risk from centralised recycling schemes.  Elsewhere there are some great collaborative consumption schemes being implemented, including Toronto Toolshare.  Also Canada was the first place to declare BPA as toxic.

2. Great strides are being made in South America, including Bogotas Zero Waste plan, which has fought for its 20,000 waste pickers to be an official part of the recycling value chain.  Zero Waste Brazil has made significant progress too, creating a community based take-back model for recycling that pays participants in credits.  At a higher level, Zero Waste Brazil was invited by the UN peacekeeping force to find solutions for solid waste during the 2010 earthquake disaster in Haiti.  It will also be involved in pushing plans through for the Zero Waste Olympics in Rio.

3. Reports from the US showed how far Zero Waste commitments are spreading around towns and cities across the States and how the Solid Waste Association of North America has now changed the focus of its annual conference from Beyond the Blue Bin to The Road to Zero Waste, following the Alliances guiding principles.

4. From Europe, we saw the great examples once more coming out of Italy with 123 towns and cities that have now signed up to become Zero Waste communities.  It was also highlighted how business and government strategies in Europe have been heavily weighted towards the Zero Waste to Landfill goal, which risks taking away the focus and opportunities for a future down the line that is actually Zero Waste.  Fellow trustee of the Zero Waste Alliance UK, Jane Green, highlighted the development of the Museum of Bad Design as an action-based research response to the need to design out waste.  Elsewhere, Mal Williams warned that whilst planning future models in consumerism and wastage, we also need to prepare for economic shrinkage and make communities more resilient in managing the potential of their resources in a way that also develops social capital.  

5. Froilan Grate of the Philippines spoke of how their strategy for Zero Waste was born out of a terrible tragedy in Payatas in 2000, where over 200 wastepickers died during a sudden landslide on a landfill site.  Since then his organisation has been instrumental in creating over 1000 MRFs to better manage the resources and have developed Zero Waste programmes for management of waste and environmental issues at community level.  The Philippines was the first country to commit to a ban on burning resources and is hence committed to striving high for zero waste goals, so much so that the Minister for Environment was also in attendance.

6. With Hong Kong facing an end to landfill in 2029, Lisa Christensen of Hong Kong Cleanup, called for the need for a Zero Waste Hong Kong strategy to be developed and has committed to sharing the ZWIA expertise locally.


As well as the need for managing rubbish from a resource perspective, various speakers at the conference on Wednesday highlighted that it is a human rights issue too, striving to change infrastructures that move from a world where practice is many areas is simply dangerous to local communities and those who work with with waste.

Examples from Mexico showed how much work has been done to stop the practice of burning waste in cement kilns and from China we heard an urgent call for better management of recycling where evidence has seen untreated plastic medical waste being recycled into poor quality childrens toys.

This conference certainly taught me how there is still so much we dont know about the global problem of waste.  It was most definitely an eye-opening event that demonstrated not only how many amazing solutions there are out there if only we take time to look, but also if we look for long enough we realise too how many issues still need resolving.

However, what I saw on Wednesday was a room full of experts including resource managers, chemists,  designers, technologists, campaigners and professionals who are now Zero Waste managers, all sharing their expertise to address these issues. 

One of the key initiatives also announced at this years Dialog was the development of a new Zero Waste Youth organisation, which held a successful conference of its own in San Francisco on Sunday.  It highlights that the issue of waste is also inter-generational and that the innovation of graduates and young people are needed too to help develop the research and technical skills to implement solutions now and in the future.

And of course, I welcomed the opportunity to share my very own Rubbish Diet story and the details of the forthcoming Rubbish Diet challenge.  It was a real privilege to have the opportunity to profile this blog and my projects on an international platform and hear the amazing responses that followed.  Something tells me that once my Nesta Waste Reduction challenge is over and having the right support in place for the UK programmes, Id better get ready to roll up my sleeves to help support Rubbish Diet communities internationally.  With interest already coming in from the US, Canada, Hong Kong, it looks like life could get very busy!

But the weeks not over yet, and theres still much more to learn and report back on, including the development of international and national zero waste standards and a visit to a MRF that has its own pig farm.

But first, breakfast!

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Lets not waste this Christmas Adopt Baglady for 2011

Would you like to live more sustainability but need a helping hand from an experienced old drama queen? Maybe youre an eco-minded blogger who wants a great excuse to offer even more inspiration to your readers in 2011.

If this sounds like you and you fancy making your mark on creating a more sustainable society, please consider giving bonkers old Baglady a place in your home for 2011. To put it frankly, shes been hanging around here for much of 2010 and its about time I moved her on. She wont take up much of your time I promise and in good olde Irish tradition, you can kick her out and send her on her way after youve helped her out a bit and when shes finished the washing up!

Baglady, aka environmental film-maker Shirley Lewis, hails from Northern Ireland and has pledged to help individuals and communities to live ASAP, i.e, As SUSTAINABLY as Possible. In her inimitable style she has been busy sorting out her local MPs and in 2011 shes planning on chatting up some more. In readiness shes collecting as many personal pledges as possible to take to her local assembly in June 2011 to help influence government policy and encourage politicians everywhere to take the lead in their own communities.  So she really needs your help!

What can you do?

Its very easy and wont take much time at all, no matter where in the world you are. Just spend a couple of minutes visiting Bagladys website and pledge to Take Up an idea that is sustainable and Give Up doing something in your life that isnt. Christmas is a great time to reflect on this and the new year is the perfect opportunity to set yourself some new goals and the children can get involved too.

There are also other ways in which you can help in the new year.  Bagladys campaign Round 2 ASAP is being officially launched by her PR company on 11/1/11 but she is an impatient old bag and wants to get the party started sooner than that. Well she is 590 million years old and has waited long enough, so who could blame her.

So if you are a blogger who would like to join Baglady in her SECRET INTERNET LAUNCH, sign up now! Taking place between 1st-10th January, all you need to do is blog about your own ASAP pledge and invite a few friends to do the same and help keep her going. Itll be fabulous to see how far shell end up before she needs to be back in Northern Ireland on June 21st. 

Oh I love nothing better than a super duper secret launch party. If you would like to be involved as an ASAP Secret Launch blogger, please email me at karen[at]therubbishdiet[dot]co[dot]uk and Ill be happy to send out the official press release and blog badge and answer any questions that you might have.

So please lets not waste this Christmas: ADOPT BAGLADY FOR 2011 TODAY!

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More information about Baglady and Pledge ASAP can be found at www.bagladyproductions.org .
Bloggers disclaimer: Karen Cannard is currently working with Shirley Lewis as an adviser for Round2 ASAP.

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Ornamental melons food waste

(Photo credit: Bettnet on Flickr Creative Commons License)

How I wish I had the patience to carve fruit like this.  The best I can do is to create an oddity of star-shaped slices from a hacked apple, a technique I learned a while back when trying to reinvigorate my childrens interest in fruit.  They were going through that phase, turning up their noses at anything but grapes and for a while much of the produce that I used to cart home from the supermarket would end up in the compost bin.

In short, our home was embellished with a weekly bowl of fruit whose purpose had become increasingly ornamental and it seemed I was the worst offender.  Not only did I keep buying it automatically without thinking the issue through, Id repeat shopping habits that were just plain daft.

For instance, take my love of melons.  Id spot them in the supermarket and pop one - or even two - in my trolley in anticipation of enjoying it later, thinking about the mouthwatering taste and refreshing texture.  Then Id arrive home, unpack, juggle the children and cook dinner and end up too blimmin knackered to even think about taking a knife to the fruit Id imagined myself devouring.

This pattern would repeat itself for days, with the melon perched on my kitchen worktop. Against a backdrop of busy family life, thoughts of its stickiness and mess-creating potential would stand in the way of the promise of it tickling the tastebuds.  Eventually, it would just go off, creating that all familiar pungent melon stink and end up being tossed into the compost bin.  The following week it would be replaced by a whole new fresh piece of fruit and the cycle of desire and inconvenience would begin once more.

When I told this story on  Radio 4s Womans Hour last week, I was met with an incredible response from friends and Twitter followers.  The tale of my ornamental melons attracted a fair portion of light-hearted innuendo banter, but after the laughs were over, reactions settled into shared stories of similar habits that friends recognised in themselves, telling me about their ornamental pineapples and other fruity installations.

It really is startling that - thanks in part to habits like this - as a country we still throw away 8.3 million tonnes of food, which could have been eaten.  That amounts to roughly £50 of food being wasted in domestic bins per month.  Extrapolate the melon story to the contents of the fridge and wasted leftovers, it becomes easy to see how this mounts up.

The experts say that tackling food waste comes down to planning and they are right.  Planning meals, budgeting properly and taking a shopping list really does help.  However, Id go beyond that and say it also requires much more. Realising the impact on the family budget. awareness of why food waste is such an environmental issue, being able to identify with your own daft habits, developing a conviction to change and then adopting new ideas that enable you to do so are all equally important factors.

Four years ago I was totally pants at managing food waste.  As well as the fruity debacle, Id think nothing of tossing out-of-date yoghurts in the bin along with leftovers from the serving bowl.   Im a terrible planner, a half-hearted cook and even now a shopping list still fills me with fear of control as opposed to the helpful guide it should be. 

However, I stumbled through all sorts of changes in my habits.  I stopped buying the stuff that Id regularly throw out. I swapped the time-consuming huge weekly shop for a couple of very short visits, instead buying only the fresh produce that we really needed and I also got into the habit of using up leftovers.  We saved loads of dosh in the meantime.   I admit that I am by no means the picture of perfection.  Threats from my husband, who sometimes reveals an unusal desire to post up some of my more dodgy looking carrots, could bear witness to that.  But addressing food waste has really made an enormous impact on our household.

So, if food waste is your thing and you are now determined to do something about it, dont just take my word for it.  I can tickle you away from using your rubbish bin, but for some really decent advice youll find no better website than www.lovefoodhatewaste.com.  Its full of facts and figures to get you motivated and is packed with top tips that range from using up veg that might appear to be at deaths door, recipes for leftovers, how best to use the freezer and understanding date-labelling.  If you use Facebook, you can also keep in touch with updates via the new Love Food Hate Waste community page.

Now coming back to those melons...Ive just done a quick calculation and reckon Ive probably saved somewhere in the region of £300 in the last three and a half years... and that ladies and gentleman is without the "Two for £3" deals. 

Flippin eck. 

£300. 

For once I declare myself officially speechless!

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Making 2020 Zero Waste Work Coventry Conference

Professor Paul Connett, presenting at the Coventry conference

Today, representatives from central government, local authorities and universities gathered together in Coventry along with social enterprises, mulitnationals, waste management companies, the third sector and environmental bodies, to explore how UK society can create a proper zero waste economy in line with aspirations for 2020.

For many, zero waste translates as zero waste to landfill, but a strong message that was made clear at todays conference was that a zero waste goal should be exactly what it says...simply ZERO waste, achieved through innovations that design out waste during manufacture and a society that promotes reuse and technologies that enable precious resources to be properly recycled rather than the assumption that the simplest destination for residual waste is to be burned with no other opportunity for recovery.

Anyone who has any doubts over whether this zero waste vision could become a reality, should consult with American waste campaigner Professor Paul Connett, pictured above, who presents a strong case for product redesign, economic incentives, community empowerment and the development of separation & research facilities at landfillincineration sites, as being vital components in making it work.

And the key to success is everyone in the chain working together to drive the results forward, an example of which was announced in Coventry today, where Coventry University, which already runs 50 courses in sustainability and the environment, revealed plans to create a Zero Waste research centre, working closely with the local authority.

Todays programme also presented examples of industrys approach to creating zero waste through manufacturing processes and facilities management as well as examplers of community-based programmes and waste stream development.

The presentation by Garden Organics Myles Bremner particularly struck a chord, as it was one of the strongest case studies  for how individuals can make a difference, not only regarding reducing their own waste, but by empowering their communities.  Through the Master Composter scheme, Garden Organics has been successful in creating a peer-to-peer network, where members of the public are able to help others, by sharing their expertise locally.

Of course I couldnt leave the conference without highlighting my strong belief that a similar peer-to-peer network is needed to nurture recycling champions across the UK, where trusted and enthusiastic members of the community are empowered to share their knowledge through local groups and at key events.  Social-networking has already demonstrated the power of word-of-mouth. If this could be replicated throughout local communiities, this greater awareness could bring beneficial results to not just recycling rates but to waste arisings too.

Although this event was organised independently of National Zero Waste Week, it was a welcome coincidence and well-timed for this weeks calendar.  It would have been news to most of those who attended todays conference that this week is indeed the 4th national awareness week of its kind.   And with reference to my earlier point about community champions, National Zero Waste Week, as organised by Rachelle Strauss of MyZeroWaste is an excellent example of how a positive role model can engage with the community around them, allbeit a virtual one.  With over 12,000 visitors to the campaign page, it certainly has proven its wide reach.

The Rt Hon Caroline Spelman MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was in attendance today and stayed for a short while following her keynote speech.  Although the government is placing waste prevention high on its agenda and has created a path towards a zero waste economy, todays  conference demonstrated that it needs to work harder and be tougher on manufacturing to design out waste and solutions for maximising the waste that remains.  I hope that government now shifts its expectations to fit more closely in line with the visionaries we saw today, who are passionate about better use of the worlds resources and the socio-economic opportunities of managing them more effectively.

Mal Williams, CEO of the Welsh community recycling network Clych, who also spoke at todays conference, really couldnt have put the point more bluntly.

"Waste is a mistake, not a resource," he asserted and referring to how society goes forward, he added that it is time to move from a "Careless system to a CAREFUL system".

And I have to agree, this should be the barometer against which a sustainable zero waste strategy should be measured and judged.

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This blogpost has been written in support of National Zero Waste Week 2011. More information about the awareness week can be found at www.myzerowaste.com.  Further details about the Making 2020 Zero Waste Work conference are available at www.climate-change-solutions.co.uk, where the speakers presentations will be published very soon.

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Making 2020 Zero Waste Work UK Conference 9th September

Wherever you are in the country, if youre interested in how the UK can develop an effective Zero Waste economy, you should try and get to Coventry on Friday 9th September for the conference Making 2020 Zero Waste Work: Achieving a low carbon resource efficient future.

With a keynote speech from the Rt Hon Caroline Spelman MP, Secretary for State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, the event pulls together some of the countrys key thinkers and international change-makers in the zero waste sector, including policy makers, retail representatives, local authority services and waste management companies.

Workshops will offer opportunities to explore topics that include:

• Best practice for business resource efficiency
• Closed loop recycling of food waste
• Accelerating the pace of industrial design
• How local authorities can drive zero waste
• Community engagement & eco parks.

The event promises to offer an exciting programme, which will see plenty of opportunity for networking with the thought-leaders from the Zero Waste sector.

For more information and to register, please visit:
http://www.climate-change-solutions.co.uk/Making2020ZeroWasteWork.php

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Tagging along with Hadleigh HWRC to the Awards for Excellence in Recycling Waste Management

The team from Hadeighs HWRC, FCC Environment & Suffolk County Council with BBCs Susanna Reid

Yesterday, I had the real pleasure of tagging along with the Suffolks Household Waste Recycling Centre team to LetsRecycle.coms Awards for Excellence in Recycling & Waste Management. 

The awards, now in their 10th year, and presented by the BBCs Susanna Reid, were held at the Landmark Hotel, London, a beautiful setting to mark the successes and excellence of the recycling and waste management industry, the kind of things that go on behind the scenes that help the UK recycle more and reduce wasted resources.

Ive been singing the praises of Suffolks recycling facilities as part of the BBC Radio Suffolk Rubbish Diet, so it was great to hear that the Hadleigh HWRC was in the running for the category of Community Amenity Site of the Year,

With composting and recycling rates that exceed 90%, Hadleigh HWRC, managed by Suffolk County Council and FCC Environment, has been identified as Suffolk ’s top performing site, with successful and effective day-to-day operations providing an enhanced service to users.

Both Suffolk County Council and FCC Environment have engaged with local third sector organisations including the Ipswich Furniture project and ‘Re-cycle’ both of which are charities that have diverted items from landfill.  Ipswich Furniture Project provides an outlet for furniture and crockery, with ‘Re-Cycle’ giving unwanted cycles a new life.  This has enabled improvements on the recycling performance within the existing site footprint and moves more of the materials up the waste hierarchy, with almost no environmental impact.

The site only has two members of staff during the week and three at weekends to manage all waste streams and maintain the high recycling rate and excellent customer service. Much of the success of the sites recycling rate is attributed to the site staff and their relationship with the public. 

But these awards always bring stiff competition and this year the team was up against the Witchford HRC, in Cambridgeshire and Witley Community Recycling Centre in Surrey.

And the winner was...... well...  sadly not the team from Hadleigh HWRC on this occasion, but another worthy winner, Witley CRC, which is part of a network of 15 facilities managed by Sita, and which has been redesigned with sustainability at its heart and strong community engagement in its development.

Ooooh, so close!  They may not have won at yesterdays event but being a finalist in the awards and one of the top performing Household Waste Recycling Centres in the UK, Hadleigh HWRC is most definitely a winner in my eyes and it was great to chat to Mel & Terry (pictured above with Susanna Reid) about their stories of what its like being on the ground at one of our countys facilities. The passion for what they do is so easy to see.

Once again, in a good way, it felt like I was a bit of a recycling groupie following the band, and a very successful one at that.  Seriously, when you witness how the awards nominees are changing the future of waste, their efforts, successes and enthusiasm really does rub off.

With wide-ranging categories such as High Street Recycling Champion, Commercial Recycling Champion, Best Community Recycling Initiative and Recycling Businesses of the Year, I wonder if next year, well see more entries from Suffolk.  After all, from our own Greenest Suffolk awards and some of the great things coming out of the BBC Radio Suffolk Rubbish Diet, I reckon our county could offer up some stiff competition for next years awards.

Huge thanks to Letsrecycle.com for letting me come along to support our fantastic team from Suffolk.  There were some great winners and finalists, all which can be seen either on the website or by following the updates on Twitter, using the hashtag #awardsforexcellence.

 

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Beyond our bins An inside peek at the UKs largest waste exhibition RWM with CIWM

Having delivered a presentation last year at the countrys largest waste management exhibition, I was keen to revisit RWM with CIWM and have a decent peek at whats really happening beyond our bins.

It looks like I wasnt the only one!.

The star attraction was not quite the latest wheelie bin that teleports your waste to the nearest recycling centre, but the rather marvellous Professor Brian Cox, who, thinking about it, could surely one day make that kind of magic happen.

He was, unsurprisingly, a teeny bit popular, so I tried another route in...

...but for want of a pair of stilts and an invisibility cloak, I failed, like a balloon that had popped too soon!

So very near to the particle recycling party, but yet so far.

And sadly very much out of earshot.

Thankfully, with the industry press fairy godmothers at the helm, I can still share the words of the prof, who not only teased the audience of waste professionals with the concept of space disposal, but on a serious note, reasserted that the Earths resources are rare and must be protected.

But, I must confess I didnt trek all the way to Birminghams NEC, just to see the professor.  I wanted to get a picture of how the waste industry is planning to helping householders and businesses waste less.  I soon got the impression that despite there still being many hurdles, those involved in the waste stream are ready to face these challenges, hurl themselves forward and keep improving targets.

Of course, the issue of targets is an interesting one and I was intrigued to discover what a panel of thought-leaders from the industry felt about the realities of Zero Waste.

Featuring senior representatives from APSRG, CIWM, WRAP and SLR Consulting, the message came over quite clearly that the view of panellists was that we will never quite reach zero waste to landfill.

However, it was also discussed that great strides towards a zero waste economy are actually possible and regardless of never being able to hit zero, the benefits along the route are really worth the journey.

Maybe it is the optimist in me, but I would like to think that the members of the panel were all holding onto a secret hope that even though they said well never hit the magic zero, we will one day reach the rather cheeky figure of a 99.99% waste reduction rate. Okay, maybe Im a tad extreme, perhaps for now Ill settle happily at 98%.

After all, this is the same panel which acknowledged that in 1980 the industry didnt even aspire to a 5% recycling rate and would have laughed at targets as high as 50%, a figure that in many areas is currently being met.

Another 32 years of innovation and rethinking will present a different picture, I am sure of it.

The industry already speaks of waste as now being a matter of logistics, with businesses such as Stobart  taking an interest.  It also acknowledges how it needs to be better at communicating the opportunities of designing out waste with designers and manufacturers, a process that really it shouldnt fear.  Better product design will bring better recyclate, which can be more easily streamed, fetching greater financial value in a properly managed circular economy. 

Elsewhere, we are also seeing stronger partnerships between recycling companies and manufacturers, such as Coca-Colas joint venture with Eco Plastics.  From the retail perspective, Sainsburys is seeking to work with local authorities to roll-out better recycling facilities at the companys stores, which will include mixed plastics recycling as well as banks for small electricals.  As for local authorities, those in charge of Household Waste Recycling Centres are increasingly seeking partners in the third sector to help push reuse, as illustrated by this recent example from Buckinghamshire

As for kerbside innovations its great to see that developments in wheelie bin design, as well as collection vehicles, can now enable easy and smarter recycling opportunities, which offer better quality recyclables for the end markets.

However, for the industry to maximise its efficiency, it is also in the area of consumer education, where the waste sector needs to urgently innovate.

We can aspire to having the best recycling facilities in the world, yet if the materials needed to support that zero waste economy still end up in landfill or incinerators, the industry might as well pop on its slippers and smoking jacket and spend the next few decades staring into the flames of the comparatively unimaginative energy from waste.

The waste reduction and recycling messages must not just continue as they, they must be stronger and more innovative to capture the imaginations and support of a greater public, to inspire individuals and organisations to increase participation.

Independent businesses need to better understand the process of diverting their landfill waste to a recycling service, which many currently see only as a fincancial burden rather than the economic incentive that diversion offers.  And community leaders, should be encouraged to create zero waste plans that support their local areas, through recycling incentives and third-sector benefits.

Wherever EfW facilities exist, recycling messages need to be stronger still, and yes, I do recognise the irony.

There are so many fantastic innovations taking place that the waste sector has a huge story to tell.  Yet, the headlines which hit the mass media are normally those that knock the recycling process, leaving local authorities to work harder at the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle message to battle the bad news stories.

It is encouraging to hear that industry journalists, such as the strong editorial team at MRW, are now forging closer links with the national media to help bring, into the public arena, news that would have once remained solely in the sector.

For it is the national media that has a key role to play in helping to change our behaviour.  As well as the "how to" advice that comes from local authorities and the Recycle Week campaigns organised by WRAP, we also need innovative features to entertain magazine & newspaper readers, TV viewers and social-media users.

Features that close in on exciting technologies, quirky recycled products, popular economics and science, or even delving into the odd celebrity bin!  It really is time for the sector to find its place in modern and popular culture.

Just imagine if someone like Clare Balding got uber-excited about waste reduction and let the cameras follow her rubbish, recycling rates would probably double by December, and if she did a double-act with Prof Brian Cox, wed be hitting zero waste by the end of the decade.

Now theres an idea.

I rather like that.

Ill bear that in mind as I wander back to my washing-up!


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For an excellent industry overview of the highlights of the RWM with CIWM, visit Edie Waste and LetsRecycle.

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Guess wholl be hanging out with Saints for National Zero Waste Week

Ive taken my husband there, my children, my mother and most of my friends in Bury and friends who visit from further afield, not to mention an eco-friendly fireman and an incognito waste campaigner.  So I thought its about time I introduced you to my favourite café to hit Bury St Edmunds too, where I hope you will join me next week to help celebrate an exciting week thats about to hit the blogosphere.

Yes, Monday sees the start of National Zero Waste Week, an annual social media campaign that promotes ideas for waste reduction. Developed and managed by the grassroots website www.MyZeroWaste.com, it is now in its third year, and for the first time is sponsored by Tetra Pak.

This year’s theme, ‘Cooking for Victory’, is supported by celebrity chef Brian Turner CBE, who will share how he views food as an asset on the MyZeroWaste website and will demonstrate “a compost while you cook” approach during National Zero Waste Week. The topics are a response to research by WRAP that reveals households throw away 8.3 million tonnes of food and drink every year, costing the average family in Britain £50 per month.

Enthused by the celebrity chef’s commitment to the national awareness campaign, I asked Saints Café if they would also be prepared to help inspire people at a more local level, serving me a daily “pot luck lunch” to showcase how delicious meals can be made from even small amounts of usable healthy ingredients that busy households might otherwise throw away.  Can you imagine my excitement when they said yes!

Saints Café owners, Engin Aga and Bernadette McAleer, said: "since launching earlier in the year, we have always placed a high emphasis on minimising food waste, sourcing seasonal and local produce where we can, cooking in small batches and fresh to order, along with running a careful stock control system to ensure that the ‘Zero Waste’ model is never far from being achieved.

“We are very excited about the project and are pleased to have the opportunity to demonstrate that efficient use of ingredients can reduce household food waste and save families hundreds of pounds a year too”.

Rachelle Strauss, aka Mrs Green, from MyZeroWaste adds "Im thrilled that Karen has teamed up with Saints Café to promote National Zero Waste Week locally. It would be great if other eateries across Bury and Suffolk join in too, inspiring their own customers with ideas to try ‘pot luck recipes’ at home in a bid to reduce the nation’s waste.”

Despite having reduced my waste by 95% since I started The Rubbish Diet in 2008, I know I’ve got lax over the summer and so it will be great to pick up some new ideas and inspiration from one of my favourite cafés in Suffolk. There is a real buzz in the UK at the moment, where professionals are even being signed up by production companies to share their knowledge with prime-time audiences on national TV.   It’s an exciting time for raising awareness locally.

Professional chefs are extremely talented in managing food as a resource and minimising waste and even Brian Turner believes there is a role for local chefs to promote their food efficiency skills amongst their own customer community in a way that is fun and accessible. He says “To all chefs - make the world a better place, buy well, waste nout and make a bit more profit at the same time, itd be daft not to.”

So if you fancy joining me next week at Saints for a coffee or even some lunch yourself, do pop in.  Ill be there enjoying good food and blogging from 1pm every day.  If you do, and can share a top tip or two, Ill even feature you on the blog!   But if you live too far away to come along, dont worry, Ill be sharing their top tips and recipes on the blog throughout National Zero Waste Week, before I pack up and attempt to use up everything from my fridge at home.

So how excited am I to have a legitimate excuse to be a lady who lunches!   Well the answer is very, so do keep coming back for all the updates and if youve got a blog, why not blog about it too.

National Zero Waste Week takes place from 6th-12th September. Anyone can pledge to join in at www.myzerowaste.com, where there will be prizes for the most inspirational stories and opportunities to share news on Facebook and Twitter. For further information about Saints Café, check out their website at www.saintscafe.co.uk.

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