New year's solutions!

I've been getting all creative with the Love Food Hate Waste theme, which means everyone benefits!

Well those in the office benefited from banana bread offerings, and you lovely readers can benefit from a bit of poetry.

It's important that we all make the most of the food we've got, because no-one likes throwing food in the bin, down the drain or out to the birds - not when its you that was intended to eat it!

And if we can pass on the benefits, then everyone's benefits grow! 

We're looking for some local Food Champions to spread the Love Food Hate Waste messages into their schools, community groups and colleges, workplaces and working men's clubs... anywhere really! So here's some verse to inspire you (hopefully!)

A poem about Food: 

We post a lot on Love Food Hate Waste, 
Because we think it's Really Great,
So now we think it's time to share,
Not just on here, but EVERYWHERE

There's money savings, help and tips,
Not to be secret, so let it slip -
To neighbours, friends, to mums & dads,
To get some help will make them glad

Recipes and FAQs,
not just for me, but you, and you
and everyone that we can tell
so the ranks of Food Lovers swell

Put up a poster, send round a card,
With a recipe on it – it’s not hard
To be a Food Lover just means you hate waste,
And want to give everyone a taste

Of £50 a month that could be saved
And CO2 gas effects that can be waived
So give some advice and egg someone on,
You too can be a Champion!

If you liked our poem and feel like making a difference in your community, follow the link to find out more about being a local Love Food Champion!

http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/resident/recycling-rubbish-waste/love-food-hate-waste/local-love-food-champions/ Love Food Hate Waste - Community

Those keen to have a go at tackling blackened bananas, here's a recipe for Banana Loaf:

8oz bananas

8oz plain flour

4oz margarine/ butter

2 eggs

2 tsps baking powder

4oz soft light brown sugar

1 sp mixed spice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

My bananas before starting out (Fairtrade of course!)

Mushy bananas can have other bananas added in too

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180ºc

2. Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.

3. Cream together the sugar and margarine.

4. Beat in the eggs.

5. Add flour, spices and baking powder. Mix through.

6. Mash the bananas using a fork then add to the main mixture.

7. Put mixture into the tin and bake for 50minutes

The mixture doesn't look particularly appetising either!

Beautiful banana loaf!

5 Top tips Re:Junk mail

How can we Reduce, Reuse and Recycle the pesky leaflets we never asked for?

Well it looks as though central government is going to try to pull together a one stop shop to allow householders to unsubscribe from junk mail once and for all in the UK.
Most of it is a waste of paper, especially if we already have the takeaway leaflet ten times over, don’t shop in the particular supermarket which has millions of deals on every week, and certainly don’t have a need for the product being advertised.
Currently the system involves contacting at least two companies – the Royal Mail, and the Mail Preference Service.

But how well will this work? I can’t honestly imagine that the local takeaways will take much notice of whether a house has signed a register or not, unless it confronts them on the doorstep!

What methods have we tried and tested already to Reduce and Reuse junk mail?

1. Put up a sign. Yes it may look like Mr Scrooge has had a hand in decorating your letterbox, but a small polite sign really can work wonders. We tried it on our letter box, simply saying, ‘No junk mail including charity textiles bags, please.’ The impact was fantastic! Until weathering gradually wore it away. So, on my To do list is: replace the sign. Some people choose durable stickers, but I liked being able to personalise my notice, as charity bags was a real issue for us, receiving up to 5 a week!

2. Catch them at it. A short conversation could flag up your property as a ‘No, thanks’ address, with that particular distributor, but probably you won’t be in, or the message won’t be passed on to the bosses.

3. Send it back. Costly in postage, but it does make a statement. Let us know if you get a response? Mrs Green at My Zero Waste probably has some great templates for returning mail, as well as sending back unnecessary packaging!

4. Chopping it up and making use of it. This was especially fun cutting out pictures of our favourite foods for a school project! Shredded coloured paper would make decorative, recyclable fillings for hampers or present boxes.

5. Crafting it. Magazines and direct mail are often printed on brightly coloured or patterned papers, so why not turn them into some beautiful paper flowers – they’ll never wilt or die,
The paper flowers are made in a similar way to making paper snowflakes, each a unique design. Then roll a sheet around a pencil, use a dab of glue or smidgen of sellotape to seal the end, and slide the pencil out, making your own stalk to attach. Paper aeroplanes and origami are also a popular activity, and cost-free!

And of course if you can’t reduce or reuse it, please recycle it. Maybe our blue boxes will be lighter once the new measure comes into play – keep your ears to the ground!

Let us know about your junk mail successes and messes below.

Top 5 foody waste (and money) saver websites

Our top 5 foody waste saver websites

1. Ok, if you’ve been a regular on this blog you’ll have heard us bang on about how great Love Food Hate Waste’s website is – but that’s just it, it IS! I especially recommend the party planner, where you can specify how many people are visiting and how long for, to plan the amount of party nibbles to provide. But please let us upload more recipes soon… http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/

2. However as another tasty treat for the regulars why not have a look at Scotland’s version http://www.wasteawarelovefood.org.uk/. I especially like the recipe section, which has a recipe finder for you to type in your ingredients to use up. www.wasteawarelovefood.org.uk/recipeTools

3. One of the best parts of the Love Food Hate Waste webpages is the meal planner, but I think that the NHS have actually cracked it on their 5 a day planner.

Not only can you drag and drop all your favourite recipes, but you can do it for a whole week, print off the plan, as well as the recipes, and plus count up lots of healthy eating points too! If we're planning our meals for the week ahead we're much less likely to have lurking items forgotten about in the fridge.
www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/5aday.aspx

4. Can I keep yoghurt in the freezer? How long for? How do I blanche? All the answers to these questions and so much more, can be found at http://www.stilltasty.com/ They brand themselves as Your Ultimate ShelfLife Guide, and I tend to agree.
It’s an essential guide to safe storage of every food type you’ve ever thought of.

5. Premeditated Leftovers is a blog from an American homemaker mum, filled with recipes and brilliant tips for being frugal with your food. You can sign up for regular updates or just pop in for a visit at www.premeditatedleftovers.com/

Going green in the garden

The demonstration compost bin we take to schools and community groups

It may not be spring but we're turning our attention in this post to going all green in the garden. Garden waste is becoming an issue that’s getting people all hot under the collar at the moment in North East Lincolnshire. But it could be getting all hot in a compost heap instead!
The council isn’t obliged by law to make a doorstep collection of garden waste, and when the first bins were put out for this use it was paid for using funding from Defra. Unfortunately we’re living in hard financial times and NELincs council may well have to introduce a charge for this service in 2012. Many councils already make a charge to collect the garden waste instead of expecting people to take it to a council tip, but the prices charged range widely.
Of course any moving of green waste from the house means extra pollution whether it’s a public or a private vehicle taking it away.
The nutrients in green waste can be used as a perfect soil conditioner for your own garden, and allsorts can be included such as grass cuttings, plants, even egg boxes and tea bags! For more information to know what to compost or not go to www.nelincs.gov.uk/environment/recycling--rubbish-and-waste/recycling/home-composting/ or for a reduced price compost bin visit
http://www.nel.getcomposting.com/

We’d love to hear from you if you’re a keen composter, live in North East Lincolnshire and would like to offer your advice to anyone who’s struggling to compost or is just starting out.
Please phone 01472 325843 and ask about becoming a Compost Champion!

The textiles issue : an investment

The textiles issue : an investment (or should that be t- issue?!)

3% of an average waste bin in North East Lincolnshire is made up of textile waste. This could be sheets, holey socks, torn or stained shirts. What could happen to it instead?

Well thinking in terms of the waste hierarchy the first thing to consider is: how can we plan out textiles waste? I suppose the best answer would be to buy high quality goods which will be durable, and last a long, long time. But there’s a lot of perceptions to change in society, to get people back to seeing clothes as an investment (no pun intended!). There’s a big uptake in the ‘make do and mend’ mentality, so stitch up that holey sock, or get even more creative!

We’re very keen to promote reuse of textiles, and most clothes can be passed on to younger siblings or willing friends. Have you heard of ‘swishing’? This is the idea of having a party where everyone brings a few items of clothes which don’t fit or would like a change. For every item you bring, you can take home a different item, so your tight jeans could become your new shoes! These items can be affectionately referred to as ‘pre-loved’.
Everyone has their favourite charity shops to donate to or shop in, and some charities will even collect bulky items such as furniture from your door, it’s always worth checking.

Lots of people may not be aware that textiles which are not suitable for reuse can actually be recycled. This might be the torn or spoiled materials which can’t be sold on, but could be shredded and turned into mattress stuffing, or cushion fillings. There are charities which can benefit from this as well, by selling on their textiles collections.

Some local schools have started collecting textiles through Wastebuster’s Sport into school project, which allows them to swap bags of their textiles for new sports equipment! Why not ask your local school if they have signed up yet?

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.