Week Ending Monday 8 December 2008

This weeks rubbish going into the landfill bin weighed in at 340g. To add to this is a carrier bag on clinker from the coal fire as well.

Week Ending Monday 1 December 2008

The landfill bag this week weighed in at 427g, but did include a mug which Dave dropped, which was 209g, so this week has been very good as it would have been under 300g without the mug.

Week Ending Monday 24 November 2008

The bag of landfill rubbish today weighed in at 343g, so again not too bad.

It didn't help that DS1 had a friend to stay on Saturday night, so there were sweet and crisp wrappers which all ended up in there.

I cooked pizza for tea and although wrapped in the plastic film inside the cardboard box, the pizzas were on polystyrene plates which I can possibly reuse to put cakes on for cake stalls or as a last resort can be taken the the Recycling Centre.

Week Ending Monday 17 November 2008

Todays bag of landfill rubbish weighed in at 337g, this is fairly close to the 300g that I am aiming at.

I can now definitely see a reduction in the amount of packaging coming into the house, even recyclable packaging.

My main problem is still crisp packets but with having children those come with the territory, and can't be completely abolished.

The boys have been very good and haven't complained too much over certain things not being bought since I started this; so crisps will be staying as that is their one waste producing treat.

Week Endsing 10 November 2008

Today saw a bag of 320g going into the landfill bin along with a bag of clinker.

So as the bin was nearly full I put it out for emptying, this was 10 weeks of rubbish plus the few extras.

Hopefully we might be able to manage on 4 or 5 collections a year based on these figures rather than the 26 that the council do collect.

The recycling bin was approx 2/3 full so good as well in that less rubbish is actually entering the house in the first place.

Weekly Weigh In - Mon 3 Nov 2008

Well this weeks bag weighed in at 320g; but DS1 cleared his room and so an extra bag weighing in at 570g was also added.

Along with another bag of clinker.

The landfill bin is not full yet but as it is due for collection next Monday I will put it out and then again at the collection before Christmas.

Week ending Monday 27 October

Todays landfill bag weighed in at 250g.

The landfill bin is now half full, that is from 8 weeks worth of rubbish, including one bag of fire clinker.

The recycling bin was collected this morning and it was only half full from the last 2 weeks.

I have noticed that the main items going into the recycling are, paper & cardboard, plastic (PET) bottles, plastic (HDPE) bottles and food cans.

I do still have a separate collection point for non-collectible plastics which I will be taking to the Recycling Centre on Wednesday, along with a few bits found whilst sorting some things to put on Freecycle.

I also have another carrier bag full of "Tesco" wrappers which do not state plastic origin which will be taken back to the store when I next go.

Week Ending Sunday 19 October 2008

This week, the bag of rubbish going into the landfill bin weighs in at 490g, this is more than has been usual for the last few weeks; but I did go round a few bit bins which haven't been emptied for a couple of weeks.

The landfill bin is now half full and that is since 1 Sept when I joined the Zero Waste week.

Week Ending Sunday 12 October 2008

This weeks bag for the landfill bin is slightly bigger than has been for the last few weeks.

Having checked through the contents, there are 4 widgets from Dave's beer cans, quite a few bottle tops of undistinguishable plastic, and some plastic wrap that is not supermarket own label so I can't send it back to them, and a lamb bone from the joint we had during the week, which although boiled to death for stock as well, has to go into the landfill bin..

Anyhow the bag weighed in at ...... 447g, which is still fairly good.

I will be double checking everything again this week, as I would prefer it to not be above 300g if at all possible.

Week Ending Sunday 5 October

The bag of rubbish today weighed 279g.

This included a salt shaker from some "Geo-organic" sea salt I had purchased ages ago, and thought I could re-fill it; no it is a sealed unit and does not even indicate plastic type for recycling.

Some of the plastic packaging that would normally have gone in has been posted off to Tesco HQ, see copy of letter on http://www.ourgreeneryear.blogspot.com/

Week Ending Sunday 28 September

Our rubbish again weighed 320g this week, and the recycling bin was only half full for the fortnight so something is working somewhere, as this means a decrease in the actual packaging brought into our home.

Zero Waste - Day 21

I have emptied the kitchen bin this morning and we are on 340g of waste to go into the landfill bin. 1 carrier bag again.

The majority of this again is plastic that can't be recycled.

I am really pleased that even though I untaped the bin the boys and Dave have not been putting things into it without thinking.

I do have a couple of ideas up my sleeve to try and reduce some of the plastic meat wrappers and will elaborate as and when they come into practice.

I have a good size box of plastics to take to the HRF or HWRC as the County Council like to call it; and will go armed with my email from the County Council, which states which plastics they accept.

Campaign to the Supermarkets

I wrote a long email yesterday to Tesco head office asking for recyclable and recycled packaging in all their own label/value products or at the very least information on the type of packaging so that as a consumer we can recycle it as we know what type of plastic etc it is.

I also asked that they provide recycling bins for all types of packaging and allowed customers to bring in their own containers for taking products home from the deli,butchery and fish counter, or provide readily recyclable ones as a choice.

I will wait with baited breath for a response but you never know.

Black Landfill Bin and Recycling Waste

Following on from the last 2 weeks I have decided to not put out the Landfill Wheelie Bin for collection until it is full.

So I will be monitoring this now as an ongoing project to see just how long it takes us to fill it; based on the last 2 weeks I would hazard a guess at 3 months (12 weeks); but we will see.

Whilst taking DS2 to school this morning we were discussing how well we have done over the last 2 weeks and then discussed that the next step would be to reduce packaging coming into the house at source, so that even though we can recycle it; it is still waste/rubbish which has to be dealt with.

Alot of things which we use do not come in an alternative form so we will have to continue to put this packaging into the recyling bin.
A typical example of this is Dh's beer cans or my wine bottle, as well as the tins that certain products come in like baked beans.

Zero Waste - Day 14

Rubbish collected for the week to go into the landfill bin, which can't be recycled:

8 crisp packets (twisted & knotted)

1 tobacco packet from DH
2 plastic tops from cream tubs
1 glass bottle lid with plastic inside
1 butter wrapper (supporting the local milkman)
1 multipak crisp wrapper (twisted & knotted)
8 chicken drumstick bones
2 plastic sleeves from meats that were used from freezer

Total weight of rubbish put into landfill this week.........................309 g

So whilst not a total zero waste fortnight, our rubbish has decreased from 2 black bin liners and sometimes 3 every 2 weeks to just under 650g in the 2 week period; basically everything in our landfill bin would fit into a carrier bag even after 2 weeks.

I am more than pleased with this result, but will continue to moniter and even reduce further over the coming weeks and months.

Zero Waste - Day 13

Well we are here at our penultimate day of the challenge; I have been reading "The Book of Rubbish Ideas" by Tracy Smith both the blog and I purchased the book yesterday from Waterstones. It is a very intersting read.

On the recycling front I can't believe how much plastic we get that can now be recycled at the HRF. I have a small box full already and that is only after 2 weeks. I think the trip there will definitely be monthly rather than the bi-monthly which I thought originally; at least until we find some alternatives for some of the products we buy, which is the ultimate goal.

I have another box containing things which hopefully will be able to be sent to GHS and also to Kristal, who is an art and design student who is using bottle tops to make a dress (see http://www.myzerowaste.com/) for the info on that.

Waste from meals

Dinners from the last couple of nights have only produced recyclable/compostable waste.

Thursday:
Fishfingers, mashed potatoes, mushy peas

2 fishfinger boxes
potato peelings
2 tins from mushy peas

Friday:

Jacket potatoes with cheese and baked beans

2 baked bean tins
the cheese was bulk purchased previously and grated then stored in portion size tubs in the freezer.

Zero Waste - Day 12

On my trip to Sainsburys yesterday I was also looking at the dishwasher products as will be needing some on the next trip, Sainsburys own "Clean Home" tablets come in a cardboard box (recyclable) and the tablets are wrapped in a disolvable film as you don't have to unwrap them when putting in the dishwasher.

I also bought some Fairtrade Organic Bananas which come in a package which clearly states on it that it can be put into the compost heap.

My friend has given me a load of cooking apples so these will be cooked down and frozen, or chopped and frozen for use over the coming months. There will also be some mincemeat made ready for the mince pies at Christmas.

I was a very kindly given a load of brand new jam jars by the boys Karate teacher who wasn't going to use them himself.

Zero Waste - Day 11

Today saw a new dilema, what to do with the chicken drumstick bones??

We had chicken drumsticks with salad and new potatoes for dinner, but of course now how to dispose of the bones.

During the winter when we have the coal/wood fire burning I would put them on there, and although the fire creates "clinker" the food waste is disposed of.
I have toyed with the idea of a green cone but at the moment costs are prohibitive.

So I think they are going to have to go into the landfill bin, I will wrap them carefully in newspaper and keep seperate until the last minute just incase I find any other ideas.

Whilst shopping today in Sainsburys I had to make a descision do I buy fairtrade sugar in a plastic non-recyclable pack or non fairtrade sugar in a recyclable paper bag.

I have always gone for fairtrade over organic when it has been staple goods, but now I have the packaging to consider as well.

Zero Waste - Day 10

Last night saw me making a big pot of Ratatouille mix to use up some veggies from the organic box which wouldn't have been used otherwise.
I prepared everything and then turned the slowcooker on as I went to bed, so that it was all cooked and ready to package into tubs for the freezer this morning.

So not only a waste saving exercise but also fuel saving.

Dinner tonight was hm shepherds pie using a portion of the ratatouille mix for extra veggies and mince, carrots, onions, oats and topped with mashed potato and cheese. I use the oats to bulk the mince oput which is cost saving.

Waste wise this created 1 freezer bag from the mince as I normally bulk purchase and freeze in meal size portions. All veggie peelings were put into the compost bin wrapped in newspaper
I will look at this again when I buy the next lot of mince as I may be able to still bulk purchase but freeze in tubs rather than bags.

Lunch today for both Dh and DS2 was egg buns, with bananas, hm cake, DS2 had a drinking yogurt and crisps, so the waste was:
banana skins - compost
drinking yog - totally recyclable
eggs shells - compost
hm cake - no waste
hm buns - no waste
crisps - landfill (twisted & knotted)

the buns were wrapped in a washable napkin and the cake in a small tub, DS2 drink was in the reused water bottle which will be totally recycled once he has used it for 2 weeks.

Zero Waste - Day 9

I went to Tesco this morning to buy the ingrdients for the school Cookery Club which I run; I noticed that they had reduced certain items of school uniform so in true forward planning mode I snapped up some shirts in bigger sizes for both boys and also some trousers for DS2 made from recycled plastic bottles.

There was a programme on ITV1 on Tonight (www.itv.com/tonight) which was highlighting the problems with mixed recycling and all recycling.

Having watched this back this morning I have written to my council asking what exactly happens to the "mixed" recycling which I diligently put into my wheelie bin each fortnight.

We will wait to see what the response is.

Lunches for both Dave and DS2 have been zero waste again both yesterday and today.

Both had ham(gammon joint cooked and very thinly sliced) salad sandwiches wrapped in a cloth napkin, banana, cake in a small tub, and cookies in the mini cereal packet, DS2 also had a drinking yogurt but it was in type 2 plastic bottle with a foil lid so both recyclable.

Zero Waste - Day 8

Today has been a quiet day, following on from last weeks adventure.

Although over on myzerowaste they have done a weeks challenge I signed up for a 2 week challenge, and will now be continuing with this during this week.

However I do know that The Greens will be continuing with their commitment to recycling.

My washing machine broke down a few weeks ago and it was not worth spending money we didn't have to repair it; however instead of buying a new one we have opted to rent as all repairs bills are covered with the rental, I can upgrade to a newer model once a year if I wanted to, and as the company I rent from ae a big electrical company they will have to conform to the WEEE code for dealing with any older/broken models etc.

So today I took delivery of my "new" washing machine. The delivery drivers took away all packagng with them, so I just have to worry!! about the old machine; we do however have a registered "scrappy" come round once every 3 months or so, so it will be placed outside until his next flyer comes through the door.

Zero Waste - Day 7

I have not particularly looked for items when shopping which could be recycled, my grocery shop this week has been a normal shop; it has been more when the time has come to deal with the waste.

Total rubbish collected in the landfill bin for the week Mon 1 Sept - Sun 7 Sept.

Crisp Packets - 12 (all twisted and knotted)

Plastic packaging which can't be recycled :-

2 deli wrappers (twisted and knotted)
1 butter wrapper foil backed pastic (folded so small though you coudn't see what it was)
1 chicken wrapper (twisted and knotted)
1 Dove Farm Yeast wrapper ( contacted Dove Farm - all they could tell me was it was foil backed) looks like foil backed plastic.
1 gammon joint wrapper
2 multipack crisp wrappers (twisted and knotted)
1 bag which I had frozen mince in from a bulk purchase (twisted and knotted)
2 carrier bags which had been reused so many times they were disintegrating (twisted and knotted)


Some things I could have left out until another time but that is not the point of this exercise, it is to see just how much is actually going into the landfill bin and how much we can reduce it by.


So.........the total waste going into our landfill bin for this week weighs in at....... 325g

Certain things now I will look at whilst shopping, to try and find an alternative with better recyclable packaging.

This is the bag of rubbish from Mon 1 Sept - Sun 7 Sept

Zero Waste - Day 6

I can report that today despite having a big baking session all items used were in either recyclable or compostable packaging.

It did help that I put my dried fruit when I buy it into a big storage jar rather than leaving it in the bag, otherwise that would have been one bag which I'm not sure on the type of plastic (will investigate next time I go shopping).

The boys have today treated themselves to a new Wii game which I thought Oh no !!packaging but surprisingly, it came in a cardboard box with a cardboard inner and the bag which held the wheel was clearly labelled type 4, so all can be recycled.

Having found that I can take all my margarine tubs/yog pots/meat trays to the HRF has made a big difference to what has gone into our landfill bin; (see tomorrows report for the final outcome.

Another thing I have been forced to look at is teabags; they either seem to come in a recycled recyclable cardboard box with mini plasticised foil inners or a celophane wrapped cardboard box with no mini inners; either way one or the other part of it is non-recyclable.

I hope that with Sainsburys looking at all their own label products they might just do something about the celophane outer.

Zero Waste - Day 5

I telephoned Sainsburys yesterday and asked them when/if they were going to package their own label fair trade sugar in recyclable bags not the type 7 non recycable it is in now; the chap on the other end said it was "in process" and that also hopefully within the next 2 years or so all own label products will be in recyclable packaging if at all possible.

Anyway scroll forward to this morning, I had to nip into Sainsburys for something whilst at that end of town, and lo and behold their own label fair trade granulated sugar was now in paper bags; the other varieties of own label sugar were very scarce which often means a packaging revamp when it is a staple product.

So I will give a big thumbs up to Sainsburys today for doing the right thing!!

I don't always shop there but have been buying their teabags and sugar as it is fair trade even better now the packaging is also recyclable.

Whilst there I also noticed that they have a few more own label organic products than they had last time.

Breakfast today for both boys was cereal and juice (no waste)

Lunch for DH was a chippy lunch which he alsways has but the shop uses all papers which can be recycled; for DS2 it was ham salad wraps, hm choc cake, juice and a banana (no waste - banana skin into compost bin)

Zero Waste - Day 4

Breakfast this morning was cereal and juice for DS2 and Banana and yourt for DS1.

No waste from DS2, DS1 Banana skin into compost bin, yogurt lid onto foil ball and pot into collection point for trip to HRF.

DH has agreed to create me a mini recycling centre similar to that of Mrs Green at http://www.myzerowaste.com/ .

We have some old Safeway green boxes which will be ideal size for storing things in, and then once every month or 2 months I will take it all to the HRF, combining it with a trip to the Library and Farmers Market in the local town.

Lunch today for both DH and DS2 was ham salad wraps, the ham we bought on the deli, although I am looking at how cost effective it might be to buy a gammon joint and cook myself; the salad is again from the organic veg box; there were also apples, from the market (no packaging - but air miles), and hm Millies Cookies wrapped again in the mini cereal packets.
DH drinks tea using his own mug whilst at work and DS2 has a water bottle which is reused over a 2 week period and then totally recycled.
DS1 has a canteen lunch at school, but also takes a water bottle which is reused over a 2 week period and then totally recycled.

DS1 school runs quite a good waste initiative, if drinks are purchased then a premium of 10p is added to the cost but if the can/bottle is taken back to be recycled the student gets his "deposit" back.

Dinner tonight was hm meatballs served with spagetti and hm tomato sauce.
Waste wise this produced (mince) a polythene bag, (bread crumbs) no waste, (spagetti) no waste, ( tomato sauce) tin from chopped tomatoes, tin from tomato puree (recycled), onion skin (composted). I made a double batch of the meatballs so half have been frozen to use another day.

I also made some Blackberry Jam today using the fruit which DS2 and myself picked yesterday.
Produce made - 6 jars of lovely hm jam;
waste - 2 paper sugar bags

Zero Waste - Day 3

We have a result!!!

I went this morning to the local Household Recyling Facility as I had a broken stereo to dispose of.

I decided whilst there to talk to the men who were dealing with the plastics etc; they told me that they had been told yes margarine tubs and yogurt pots could be taken there, but maybe a phonecall to Lincs County Council who manage the site might help to just confirm this.

On returning home I gave the Council a call and spoke to a very helpful chap who said yes any hard type plastic such as margarine and yogurt pots etc could be taken there.
The only type of plastic which couldn't was Polythene which is type 4 and I already post this to Polyprint Ltd.

Breakfast today was again cereal and juice as DS1 is now back at school, so no waste there.

Lunch for DH was hm bread sandwich with boiled egg and salad cream filling, wrapped in a cloth napkin, along with a banana and some hm shortbread wrapped in one of the mini cereal packets.

Lunch for myself and DS2 was grabbed whilst in Tesco, as we had to get DS1 some school trousers, he has shot up over the holidays and I hadn't realised quite how much by until this morning. We went to the deli and I had a piece of quiche (cardboard box) and DS2 had a Scotch egg (doesn't like pastry). I said to put both in the same box, no plastic bags etc. NO couldn't do that as had to have different barcode tickets.

Dinner tonight was Roast chicken, with salad and fried new potatoes. The chicken tray will be able to be saved and taken to the (HRF), the salad and new potatoes came in the organic veg box delivery this morning, I will just have to see about the plastic/polythene wrapper from the chicken.

DS2 also had a packet of crisps when we got home, so that has had to go into the landfill bin.

Zero Waste - Day 2

Today breakfast has been cereal and juice.

These were the little ind boxes which were bought in an attempt to get my boys to try different cereals, and the pack of 8 only cost £1.21 but each box has a coupon worth 25p on the back which Tesco will accept even if you do not buy the product.

The coupons were removed the boxes were placed in the recycling bin and the inner wrappers will be used as bags for cookies (hm of course) in the lunch boxes in the weeks to come. Until a time when I need to find a place to recycle them.

Lunch was hm bread, with tuna and salad, followed by jelly and hm shortbread.
There was unfortunately the plastic wrapper from the jelly to contend with, which having no recycling info on it had to go into the bin. The tin from the una went into the recycling collection bin.

Dinner was hm fish pie served with carrots and frozen green beans.
No waste there as yet.

So on day 2 we have 1 very small piece of plastic, which has been duly twisted and knotted before placement in the landfill bin.

Zero Waste - Day 1

Well today we have managed to put nothing into the landfill bin.

All veggies and fruit peelings from making my Sweet Ratatouille Chutney went into the compost bin wrapped in newspaper.

The tray and film the mince for the lasagne came in will be put into the collection box for parcelling off to GHS .

The empty glass milk bottles were left on the doorstep this morning.

The tins from both the chopped tomatoes and tomato puree were rinsed and added to the recycling bin.

DS2 wanted a drink whilst we were in town today shopping, he chose a bottle that had number 2 on the bottle and when he opened it the lid was also number 2. These were both put intothe recycling bin when we got home.

Dave took a zero waste packed lunch to work with him; sandwiches were wrapped in a t/towel and cake was put in a small plastic tub, the banana skin went into the compost bin.

Week Ending Sunday 31 August

Well today starts the "zero waste" challenge.

The bins were emptied for collection this morning and we had a total of 743g going to landfill which is half the weight of last weeks.

This is a very good start as I had been tweaking the rubbish for the landfill bin all week in readiness for the upcoming challenge.

Obviously we want the figure over the next 2 weeks to be as close to zero as possible, with collection boxes for all the different types of recycling; be it:

a) directly into the recyclable collection bin
b) directly into the compostable collection bin
c) frozen for Dave to take to work for lunch or for "leftovers" night
d) sent to work with Dave for the dogs if not re-usable by us
e) collected to be posted to either of the 2 companies who recycle plastics which my council do not
f) saved to be sold at the next car boot sale we do.
g) saved to be taken to the recycling centre run by my local council
h) saved for a school collection "bag 2 school" for old clothes and shoes
i) placed on freecycle
j) directly given to charity

If any thing we no longer wish to keep does not fit into any of the categories above then it will have to be placed in the landfill bin.

I will be keeping a daily log as I have in the past to record exactly what makes up our rubbish.

Week Ending Sunday 24 August

This is the bag of "rubbish" which went into my landfill bin this week it weighed 1.3kg and was only a third of the size of my 45l swing bin.

There were a few yogurt pots in there as I had ran out of my own and had treated DS1, this was before I had heard about GHS the recycling company, which will take most plastics as long as there is sufficient quantity.

The rest of the "rubbish", seemed to be plastic wrap and crisp packs etc. and even though I twist and knot my plastics to make then smaller they will still weigh the same.

Zero Waste

I have been reading the following 2 blogs/websites recently

http://www.therubbishdiet.blogspot.com/ and http://www.myzerowaste.com/

and have decided to do a "Zero Waste Pledge".

This will mean that we will have to try to not throw anything into the landfill bin, things can still be recycled/composted but NOTHING if at all possible should go into the landfill bin.

I will be starting this on Monday 1 Sept as the landfill bin is emptied on that day so we will start the pledge with empty bins all round; this will continue for a 2 week period until Monday 15 Sept when the bin is due to be emptied again.

CATCHING UP

I have been a little lax in posting this blog but am happy to report that all is still going well on the rubbish front.

We are still only having one bag of rubbish a week and most collections the recycling bin is now only half to ¾ full which means we are now actually reducing the total amount of rubbish being brought into the house.

The glass recycling box gets emptied approx every 3 weeks which is also a good thing as this is more frequently than before but also backs up my idea of buying things in glass rather than cans as glass is a more readily recyclable material I believe, and I'm sure I read this somewhere.

Hopefully I will be able to post a little more frequently and keep things more up to date.

WEEK ENDING SUN 8 JUNE

The rubbish produced is still only 1 bag from the kitchen bin and every 2 weeks the recycling bin is full. As we are now cutting the grass and tidying the garden more the compostable bin is also full every 2 weeks.

RUBBISH - 1 bag kitchen bin

WEEK ENDING SUN 1 JUNE

The rubbish produced is still only 1 bag from the kitchen bin and every 2 weeks the recycling bin is full.
As we are now cutting the grass and tidying the garden more the compostable bin is also full every 2 weeks.

RUBBISH - 1 bag kitchen bin

WEEK ENDING SUN 25 MAY

The rubbish produced is still only 1 bag from the kitchen bin and every 2 weeks the recycling bin is full.
As we are now cutting the grass and tidying the garden more the compostable bin is also full every 2 weeks.

RUBBISH - 1 bag kitchen bin, 1 bag extra plastics

WEEK ENDING SUN 18 MAY

The rubbish produced is still only 1 bag from the kitchen bin and every 2 weeks the recycling bin is full.
As we are now cutting the grass and tidying the garden more the compostable bin is also full every 2 weeks.

RUBBISH - 1 bag kitchen bin

WEEK ENDING SUN 11 MAY

This week the compostable bin os over flowing as Dave has cut the hedge and David has cut the grass and all clippings have gone into oyr "green" bin.

General rubbish is again 1 bag from the kitchen bin.

RUBBISH - 1 bag kitchen bin

WEEK ENDING SUN 4 MAY

Rubbish this week again was only 1 bag from the kitchen bin and a small carrier bag from the bit bins around the house.

RUBBISH - 1 bag kitchen, 1 small carrier

WEEK ENDING SUN 27 APRIL

Well again we only have one bag of rubbish from the kitchen bin and a small bag from the bit bins around the house; and the recycling bin is full.

There just does not seem to be any way of reducing the amount of rubbish any further.

RUBBISH - 1 bag kitchen bin, 1 bag from bit bins

WEEK ENDING SUN 20 APRIL

Another good week, we only have one bag again from the kitchen bin, there is also one small bag of cinders etc from the coal fire which have to go to landfill and can't be used on the garden.

The recycling bin is also half full with one week to go.

The compostable bin is also nearly full due to some more gardening work clearing away overgrown ivy etc.

RUBBISH - 1 bag kitchen bin, 1 bag clinker

WEEK ENDING SUN 13 APRIL

Another good week the recycling bin was full and there was only 2 kitchen bin bags and one bag of extra plastics to go to landfill.

RUBBISH- 1 bag kitchen bin

WEEK ENDING SUN 6 APRIL

Again a good week as only 1 bag from the kitchen bin, this does also include the bit bins from around the house.

I have probably mentioned this before but with bags etc that have to go into the bin I twist and knot so they are more compact and do not expand back out to their full size, therefore filling the bin quicker.

I learn't this whilst camping with the Girl Guides as obviously we had to take all our rubbish away with us depending on the sites used.

RUBBISH - 1 bag kitchen bin, 1 small bag extra plastic

WEEK ENDING SUN 30 MARCH

Rubbish OK again this week, seem to have hit the minimum we will be throwing out which is a bag a week.

The only other thing I have been doing different is buying more things in glass jars then decanting at home. Specifically ketchup and those condiment type sauces.

The recycling bin was once again full which is good but still means we have far too much stuff coming in to the house; not sure where/how else I can change this.

RUBBISH-1 bag kitchen bin, 1 bag non recyclable plastic

WEEK ENDING SUN 23 MARCH

Not quite so good this week but that is partly due to the boys Easter Eggs which came in non- recyclable type 3 plastic - Cadbury's very bad.

The Nestle eggs they also got came in type 1 plastic which is recyclebale so for once a thumbs up to Nestle.

RUBBISH - kitchen bin 1 bag, extra plastics 2 bags

WEEK ENDING SUN 16 MARCH

Again this week we have only put out 1 small bag of rubbish to be taken to landfill.

The recycling bin was again full, so again a good thing in that it isn't going to landfill but still too much excess packaging.

I am feeling the need to start buying my groceries at places that do not have packaging, and would love to be able to shop in an old style store where butter etc was cut froma slab and then wrapped in recyclable greaseproof paper.

All in all a fairly good week.

Rubbish - 1 bag

WEEK ENDING SUN 9 MARCH

Only had a large carrier bag to go into the rubbish bin this week due to the fact I have been keeping non-recyclable plastics in a separate bin liner. 2 weeks worth has made a bin liner full.

These are type 3,5,6 &7 plastic which are not recycled in UK.

The amount of non-recyclable plastic used in this country is shocking, but I don't really know how we as consumers can make any changes when in some cases we have to buy the things in these particular types of plastics as there are no alternatives.

I have emailed my local and county council asking when they will be recycling type 5 in particular as that is the one with the most volume ie. margarine tubs and yogurt pots.

RUBBISH - 1 small bag and 1 bin liner of non-recyclable plastic

WEEK ENDING SUN 2 MARCH

We again had a similar size bag to last week.

Can't seem to get it down any further than this.

The main problem being that my council do not recycle type 5 plastic and there are only so many tubs you need/can use for storage.

I will just keep pestering them to improve their recycling facilities.

The recycling bin was full again, which is good but some is excess packaging so that can be re-looked at.


RUBBISH - 1 bag from kitchen bin

WEEK ENDING SUN 24 FEB

Please look at http://www.ourgreeneryear.blogspot.com/ as I have posted a photo of the small bag of rubbish we put out this week.

RUBBISH for week 1 bag from kitchen bin

WEEK ENDING SUN 17 FEB

Again all things seem to have going into the correct bins and also we only had 1 bag to go into the rubbish bin; can't seem to get this any lower.

Today myself and David are taking a trip to the local recycling centre to take a few items we can't put into the normal bins which are collected.

RUBBISH - 1 bag from the kitchen bin

WEEK ENDING SUN 10 FEB

As we have been getting our rubbish throwing under control, it seems all things are going into the correct bins. The boys are also checking with me if they are not sure on where something should go.

It is taking quite a bit of time to note down exactly what we are throwing and where, so I have decided that as we logged it all through January we will see for the next few weeks if we can keep on track, if the landfill bin starts getting more in it than I feel good about then I shall log again.

RUBBISH TOTAL - 1 bag from the kitchen bin, 1 small bag of the excess stuff I found whilst sorting the kitchen cupboards.

Not quite as good as previous weeks but it has removed a few things which have not been used in the 7 years we have lived in this house, unfortunately some things had to be put into the rubbish as they could not be recycled.

The compostable bin was full to bursting today as we had spent some time in the garden on Saturday afternoon tidying things up a little.

The recycling bin will also be full by next Monday when it is collected.

The glass recycling box is full and needs emptying.

WEEK ENDING SUN 3 FEB

Monday 28 January:
recycle - glass milk bottles back to milkman, passata jar, squash bottle & lid, lasagne box
compost - veggie peelings, fruit waste
rubbish - meat wrapper
posted - batteries from Wii handset,

Tuesday 29 January:
recycle - milk carton & lid, junk mail, tuna can, mayo jar & lid
compost - veggie peelings, fruit waste
rubbish - chicken wrapper, egg shells
posted - wrappers from Tom & Dave magazines

Wednesday 30 January:
recycle - cereal box, glass milk bottles back to milkman, fish finger boxes, tp tube
compost -veg peelings,
rubbish - cereal box inner,
posted -

Thursday 31 January:
recycle - milk carton & lid, sweet & sour sauce jar & lid, batteries, junk mail
compost - veggie peelings, fruit skins,
rubbish - pork wrapper, yogurt packet, rice packet,
posted - junk mail wrapper

Friday 1 February:
recycle - glass bottles back to milkman, tp tube, kr tube, tuna can
compost -
rubbish - large outer wrapper from ind crisp packets,
posted - water filter cartridges

Saturday 2 February:
recycle - softner bottle,
compost -
rubbish - cheese wrapper, coleslaw tub
posted -

Sunday 3 February:
recycle - sugar bag, washing powder box, juice bottles, sauce bottle, mushroom bag, baked bean tin
compost - veg peelings
rubbish - meat wrapper, sausage & bacon wrapper, egg shells

RUBBISH TOTAL - 1 bag

WEEK ENDING SUN 27 JAN

MONDAY 21 JANUARY:
recycled - glass bottles back to milkman, milk carton & lid, junk mail, salmon can, bread flour bag
compost - veg peelings,
rubbish - sausage wrapper, cheese wrapper
posted -magazine wrapper

TUESDAY 22 JANUARY:
recycled - junk mail, juice bottle & lid
compost - veg peelings, banana skin,
rubbish - crisp packet
posted -

WEDNESDAY 23 JANUARY:
recycled - cereal box, glass milk bottles back to milkman, bread flour bag, dishwasher tablet box, milk carton & lid
compost - veg peelings, banana skin, apple core,
rubbish - meat wrapper
posted -

THURSDAY 24 JANUARY:
recycled - cereal box, suggar bag, junk mail, tortilla packet
compost - veg peelings, banana skin
rubbish - yogurt sachet, meat wrapper, crisp packet (david lunch)
posted -

FRIDAY 25 JANUARY:
recycled - glass milk bottles to milkman, 2 glass jars
compost - veg peelings, apple core
rubbish - haggis wrappers, crisp packet,
posted -

SATURDAY 26 JANUARY:
recycled - milk carton & lid, oj tetra pak, soda bottle, J2O glass bottles (boys)
compost - banana skins
rubbish - cinders from bottom of fire
posted -dave beer ringos,

SUNDAY 27 JANUARY:
recycled - milk carton & lid, baked bean can
compost - veg peelings, banana skins
rubbish - meat wrapper, sausage & bacon wrappers, egg shells
posted -

RUBBISH - total put into bin 1 large carrier bag plus cinders

WEEK ENDING SUN 20 JAN

Monday 14 January:
recycle - glass milk bottles back to milkman, tp tube, glass jar from tomato puree, chopped tomato can, junk mail, envelope from my Organic lifestyle magazine,
compost - veggie peelings,
rubbish - salad cream bottle type 5 plastic,cocoa tin,
posted - type 4 plastic lid,


Tuesday 15 January:
recycle - milk carton & lid, junk mail, yogurt bottle (David's lunch), cereal box, Kitchen roll tube, hot chocolate jar, coffee jar
compost - veggie peelings, banana skin, grape stalk,
rubbish -crisp packet (David's lunch), cereal packet inner, egg shells,sausage wrapper (knotted & tied)
posted - junk mail wrapper, wrapper from Thomas' magazine,

Wednesday 16 January:
recycle - glass milk bottles back to milkman, shampoo bottle, bubble bath bottle, junk mail
compost - potato peelings, banana skin
rubbish - chicken wrapper,
posted -

Thursday 17 January:
recycle - tuna can, junk mail
compost - veggie peelings, banana skin, apple core
rubbish - yogurt sachet
posted - junk mail wrapper, fish bag (washed & dried)

Friday 18 January:
recycle - glass milk bottles back to milkman, junk mail, milk carton & lid, drinking yogurt bottle (David lunch), Dave's beer cans
compost - veggie peelings, banana skin,
rubbish -
posted - junk mail wrapper

Saturday 19 January:
recycle - fried chicken box, foil lids from glass milk bottles, muffin wrappers, milk carton & lid, soda bottle, glass juice bottles (J2o), Dave's beer cans, cola can
compost - potato peelings, salad trimmings, banana skins,
rubbish - crisp packet, egg shells
posted -

Sunday 20 January:
recycle - paper bag, large cardboard box, tp tube,
compost - veggie peelings,
rubbish - sausage & bacon wrappers, egg shells, bag from Dave's sweets, wrappers from duck
posted - bread bag (washed & dried)

RUBBISH - total amount put into bin - 1 bag.

WEEK ENDING SUN 13 JAN

Monday 7 January:
recycled - glass milk bottles returned to milkman, cereal box, box outer from cookies, can from chopped tomatoes, milk carton & lid, junk mail, foil tops from glass milk bottles
compost - onion and garlic peelings, banana skin, apple core, teabags
rubbish - outer wrapper from multipack crisps (twisted & knotted), plastic bag from minced beef (twisted & knotted), cereal packet inner (twisted & knotted)

Tuesday 8 January:
recycled -scrap paper used as grocery list, junk mail, box which dishwasher tablets came in, sugar bags from castor sugar used in baking, teabag box, drinking yogurt bottle (David's lunch)
compost - veg peelings, banana skin, 2 apple cores, grapes stalk , teabags
rubbish - chicken wrapper & tray,

Wednesday 9 January:
recycled -glass milk bottles returned to milkman, foil tops from glass milk bottles, 2 toilet paper inners, 1 soda bottle, 2 juice bottles, pile of old magazines, 3 bags of clothes that David has outgrown or will not need, fish finger box,
compost - banana skin, apple core, potato peelings , teabags
rubbish - 3 lids from bottles put into recycling, fish wrapper, frozen green bean bag, crisp bag from Dave's lunch,

Thursday 10 January:
recycled - junk mail, excess newspapers, old magazines, old papers no longer needed (these have been shredded) , foil pie dish
compost - banana skin, veggie peelings, teabags
rubbish -meat wrapper, plastic bags and general rubbish from a sort in bedroom,
posted - plastic wrapper from junk mail

Friday 11 January:
recycled -glass milk bottles returned to milkman, foil tops from glass milk bottles, junk mail, jar & lid from clotted cream,drinking yogurt bottle (David's lunch), plastic milk carton & lid, compost - banana skin, apple core, teabags
rubbish - crisp packet (David's lunch), cheese wrapper
posted - plastic wrapper from Tom's magazine, plastic wrapper from junk mail,

Saturday 12 January:
recycled - toilet paper inner, foil and cardboard from chinese takeout containers
compost - teabags, banana skins, apple cores
rubbish - plastic bag chinese came in,
posted - plastic wrapper from junk mail,

Sunday 13 January:
recycled - baked bean tin, juice bottle, milk carton & lid
compost - teabags, veggie peelings
rubbish -bacon wrapper, sausage wrapper, egg shells, small bag with coal ash from open fire
posted -

RUBBISH - total amount put into bin - 1 bag.

INTRODUCTION

We as a family are going to try and be greener this year. This is our weekly rubbish/recycling log