Zero Waste Week

Zero Waste Week

As a self confessed RubbishGeek it is with great excitement that I can announce the approach of Zero Waste Week!

Get those dates in your diary Zero Waste Week is 5th – 11th September 2011

To get involved just pledge to cut back on your waste producing habits.
There’s encouragement available online from http://myzerowaste.com/zero-waste-week-2011/ so make sure you remember to sign up your pledge there, and there are some hints for easy everyday waste free ideas too. This year’s theme is ‘Reducing waste away from home‘ in support of Recycle Now’s Recycle Week where the theme “Recycling - Home and Away” got everyone thinking about recycling not just at home, but when out shopping, at work or socialising.

There’s also a photo competition for those of you who, like me, love to spot different recycling bins on your travels. Two happy waste bloggers have got some snazzy prizes to award for the best photos and videos of people using ‘on-the-go’ recycling bins. More info at http://www.1000bins.com/ The deadline for submissions is the end of Zero Waste Week, midnight on 11th September, so get your cameras out!

We’re also looking forward to seeing what kinds of creations our local artists have come up with to contribute to the Reusable bags exhibition held at Cleethorpes Discovery Centre from 20th September 2011.

We love to SNUB (Say No to Unnecessary Bags) - or No Thankyou anyway! But especially if we can produce our own stylish bags from the pocket, or the depths of the handbag, for use instead.

Learning for life

We’ve had the pleasure of being invited to several open air events this summer to talk to people about Reducing, Reusing and Recycling, and show some in action.

It’s always better not to make rubbish in the first place, and we can avoid producing it by choosing to use good quality reusable products instead. We took some cotton reusable bags with us, and allowed visitors to the stand to decorate their own with fabric pens. The stand was non-stop action until we ran out of bags! What would you decorate your own Bag for Life with?

We’ve also been exploring all the possibilities of used magazines – all the colours and patterns can make for some really pretty paper flowers, brightly coloured paper aeroplanes and some very useful paper fans! We need to remember that recycling paper uses a lot of water and energy and if we can reuse products as much as possible before needing to recycle them, that’s better for the planet.

We took out the updated pedal power bike, to show people just how much energy it takes to power a single lightbulb, by making them power our generator (volunteers of course!). We then shared with them some fascinating facts about how much energy can be saved by producing packaging from recycled materials instead of virgin materials. For example…

DID you know?? The energy savings from recycling 1 plastic bottle is the equivalent of powering a lightbulb for three hours?! And the energy savings from recycling 1 drinks can would power a television for three hours?

So really every little makes a difference.