Over to our New Blog

Rather than run two independant blogs this year I am running one "Green" blog here.

In the run up to Christmas I was little lax in recording the amount of rubbish although it was on a par to a normal week, that we had been having.

If you wish to still follow our efforts/progress on reducing our landfill rubbish please join us on the new blog as above.

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.