Fruity fun at Freeman Street

Our picture is from our team's visit to the Freeman Street Market Big 5 challenge on Saturday 26th February. Although we had planned to make smoothies by bicycle power again, our electrical skills let us down. Luckily we had a Plan B, so we could still whizz up some lovely smoothies - made of plum, banana and strawberry, with orange juice base. The fruit could be old or tired, and the smoothie would still be tasty and refreshing. As it was, the helpful grocers of the market gave us some really fresh and flavoursome fruits to sample.

Compass fm were hosting the event which showed how you can cook from fresh in 5 minutes, for under 5 pounds, and make some really tasty meals, and we were on hand to show how to make the most of that food!

We spoke to lots of people and handed out our new recipe and tips cards - including a trifle, fish pie, spaghetti carbonara, and non-alcoholic fruit punch. This is all part of the Love Food Hate Waste campaign - a national campaign to reduce food waste. For more information visit www.nelincs.gov.uk/lovefoodhatewaste

Our favourite family popped down to see us too - the Johanssons kept a diary of the food they threw in the bin for 1 week. They were surprised how much was being thrown away, and after taking the Food Lover challenge, found they were able to save£50 a month. Careful storage and planning ahead were two things that helped to reduce the food that lurked in their fridge or went to the family pet.

We're looking for four more families to take the Food Lover challenge in May of this year, so keep an eye out on the Council webpages, if this could be you? www.nelincs.gov.uk/lovefoodhatewaste

Filled up February!

Full hands

I recently saw a great way of explaining why we should look after the environment:

" Many of us grew up with the adage "Don't Go Empty Handed" ... meaning that when we accepted the hospitality of another, we contributed in some way. Maybe we brought dessert to a dinner, or flowers to the hostess.
On a daily basis, we enjoy the generosity of nature ... we eat foods from the land, use fuels from the earth ... we enjoy fresh air and clean water and a multitude of natural resources. What if we decided to bring something to the party ... to contribute in some way?
We can consciously consider what we can do to give back ... to help the environment rather than deplete it.
When we entered a friend's home with full hands, they smiled and felt appreciated. The environment offers us it's hospitality every day ... let's not go empty handed"

www.reducefootprints.blogpost.com

Filled up...er other things!

We have recently begun the search for keen‘Real Nappy Champions’ for N.E.Lincs. This would allow you to be involved in promotion as little or as much as you would like, depending on your availability. Your views would inform our officers to improve the advertisement of the money back scheme, and better inform the choices of local parents about the alternatives to disposables. If you or your family have benefitted from the option of modern, washable nappies and would like to share your experiences with other parents, we would like to hear from you.

We would also like to share information more widely about the 50/50 money back scheme, to encourage more parents in our area to choose to ‘Go Real’, with up to £50 set up costs refunded. More information can be found on the website www.nelincs.gov.uk/nappy
On the national Go Real website www.goreal.org.uk you will find further information about the national campaign and their promotions

Love is in the air!

And of course - Valentine's day is coming up!
Why not show your love a different way this year by saving some money for your household, instead of spending it?! The New Year's resolutions page on www.lovefoodhatewaste.com give some quick ideas for how you can save up to £50 a month!
Our team is looking forward to sharing the Love at Freeman Street Market, Big 5 competition on Saturday 26th Feb 10am-12pm, we'd LOVE to see you there too!

May your life be full this February, but not your bin!

WOW

This a great competition for children year 5 and up to present their ideas to Wipe Out Waste.
It has come from footprintfriends.com and is now in the third year of running, so if you know anyone with a great idea, then pass them the details!
The WOW finals will be held at a London location in the summer of 2011 so the deadline for entries is Tuesday 1st March 2011

The site says : group up into teams of up to 4; assess the potential impact of waste wiped out via the adoption of their ONE BIG WOW IDEA; complete the WOW questionnaire; and submit it to Footprint Friends.
Waste* in this context would be in the broadest sense; it could be referenced by energy, water,food, materials, carbon, time and money and so on. They will also need to speculate how much waste would be saved in schools if their idea was adopted nationally.
*Our definition of waste is anything that is being used carelessly, being wasted, thrown away unnecessarily, misused, is surplus to requirement and so on. - The WOW aim is to encourage schools to get closer and closer to being zero waste. Put simply, zero waste extends current approaches to recycling by introducing the concept of circular systems in which as much waste as possible is reused, similar to the way that resources are reused in nature.
The application process is intentionally simple – all your students have to do is come up with ONE idea. Schools can submit more than one entry if they wish.

Let's see if we can get a winner from NELincs!

http://www.footprintfriends.com/Campaigns/WOW-Invitation.htm

Waste-less resolutions??

Happy new year to all, hope you've had lots of chances to encourage friends and family in 'waste-less' ways this Christmas?
Tomorrow is twelfth night, so see how much you can reduce, reuse and recycle in the seasonal tidy up.
Christmas cards can go to the following places: Tesco, Sainsbury's, TKMaxx, Marks & Spencers and Home Sense stores. In North East Lincolnshire we also accept them for recycling in the blue papers box. However if they go to the latter three shops, you can be supporting the Woodland Trust, and can even vote on their website for where they should plant more trees! www.woodlandtrust.org.uk
The blog www.myzerowaste.com covers loads of ideas for using christmas cards creatively too.
Let me know if you're making resolutions to be green and clean!

Merry Christmas!

Only two days to go...

Check out this Christmas tree made of 5,480 recycled bottles displayed in Haifa, Israel!

So, how can we Reduce, Reuse and Recycle this Christmas?

As we well know, it's all about planning ahead. Have a really good check on the dates of food already in the fridge, and on the shelves before you buy more. If the time until the use by date isn't very long, then plan to make space in the freezer, or don't buy it.

I've tried to use decorative bags instead of wrapping paper, as they can definitely be saved for next year. There's some question over whether we can include wrapping paper in the recycling - so it's best just to avoid it altogether! I heard a lovely story of a mother receiving her gift, wrapped in a beautiful scarf, which is another great idea!

At our New Year's eve party, my recycling boxes will be on display. Any guests who finish a tin or a glass bottled drink can drop them straight in. My partner has also had a go at brewing his own beer this year, so that cuts out loads of packaging!

On 12th night I'll be chopping up the Christmas cards, to make more next year, and the scraps will go in the paper recycling. The decorations will be stored away for next year - including the tree. Of course if you've got a real tree, you could try to plant it again, or chop it up for composting.

Let's try to avoid festive mess, and waste less.
See you in 2011.

Snow and ice and all things not so nice

Unfortunately our Council has had to suspend door to door waste collections this past week, due to this icy weather.
I know I certainly wouldn't like to have a lorry skidding about down narrow streets!

I'm sure it will certainly bring home to people how much waste we actually do accumulate when it's piled up at home or in the garden instead of being whisked away.
The one big problem with having a door to door collection is that people don't have to think very far past their own front door when considering where waste actually goes when we throw something 'away'.

I know I've been thinking hard about how life would be if this kind of weather was here to stay. For a start we'd probably have our own fires in back gardens again, to thaw out, and get rid. That's one of the options in North East Lincolnshire, as our waste collections are taken to the Energy fromWaste site in Stallingborough. Although the heat energy is captured from this fire, and the steam and heat is used to create electricity.

My picture was taken the other day, when I lifted up our patio furniture to find these rather pretty icicles. Could make for a painful seat though!

Well, if the post still doesn't get through then it's e-cards for everyone, cutting down on even more waste! Maybe I'll use this picture on the front? Have an 'ice' Christmas, stay warm and stay safe!

What's Nappening?

I had a lovely day on Friday at Immingham Children's Centre chatting to parents and grandparents of little 'uns and not so little 'uns about the advancements in washable nappies.
This was as part of European Week of Waste Reduction.

When you think that every baby fills 12 wheelie bins with disposable nappies every year, reusables are obviously going to make a difference! It's also much cheaper as total set up costs are about £250 for washables or Real nappies, but £1000 for disposables!
In North East Lincolnshire parents can claim £50 of their set up costs back for Real nappies at www.nelincs.gov.uk/nappy

Tesco Stocking Real Nappies

It has been announced that 2 prominent Real Nappy brands are now being stocked in some of the larger Tesco stores throughout the UK.

This is a massive development for the Real Nappy Industry and adds yet another big name to the growing list of major retailers who now stock Real Nappies.

The decision by Tesco will introduce many parents to Real Nappies, some of whom may not have considered using Real Nappies before.

Limited edition
Bambino Mio have launched a limited edition heart print nappy cover that is extremely funky and cute!

Only 750 covers will be available this year and will be sold exclusively online from the Bambino Mio shop for a limited period only, at www.bambinomioshop.co.uk