8 Weeks! One Challenge! It's a wrap!

Whether you've been eating up your yoghurt pots, turning your boiled-up chicken bones into a mobile or cleaning your floors with last week's napkins, the BBC Radio Suffolk Rubbish Diet is over!

As they say in the business, it's a wrap!

But how have people been getting on?  As many participants come to the end of their diets, we shall receive their feedback very soon.  Meanwhile BBC Radio Suffolk has been busy this week catching up with some of the leaders in our community who have taken part.

It's been great to hear how Abbots Green Community Primary School now has in place a paper recycling bank, which earns them money for every tonne of paper collected via the school and the local community.  They've also taken delivery of a new composter this week too, so I'll be looking forward to seeing that in place soon.

Simon Daykin at the Theatre Royal confirmed that by simply changing all of the under-desk bins in the office to recycling only and having just one rubbish bin for everyone, they now have only one small bag of rubbish that goes out each day instead of what would have once been 12 or 13 before the campaign started.  Staff now also take their own containers to the local Greene King cafe, across the road, instead of bringing back polystyrene containers.

Simon Ginders-Coxshall, manager of Haverhill Leisure has also seen a difference since they've removed individual bins and have instead created 'recycling stations' in the office.  Thanks to sharing the Rubbish Diet updates and a staff visit to the local Viridor MRF, staff have become more aware and engaged in the process.  Even though this is the end of the campaign, Simon sees it as just the starting point and is now looking forward to the year ahead.

The BBC Radio Suffolk Rubbish Diet has also proven to be a campaign of contrasts.  Josiah Meldrum from Sustainable Bungay was already good at waste reduction, but it was great to hear that even for him the Rubbish Diet tips made that extra difference, introducing new ideas and raising awareness of even more things that can be recycled in Suffolk, especially when it comes to garden waste such as pots.

Lynne Mortimer, the EADT's TV critic, by contrast confessed that she didn't quite throw herself into it, but most definitely did her best.  The prospect of doing everything looked far too daunting too so she chose the easiest things for her and is now recycling plastic film and other things to take to the HWRC and is also composting her teabags and other green waste that would have once ended up in the landfill bin. Asked whether she would continue, she replied, "Definitely, you don't undertake something for 8 weeks just to cast it out of your life the minute the broadcaster walks out of your door".

Lesley Anslow, the Bury Free Press news editor, has seen a great impact on her waste, reducing it by over 50%.  For Lesley, it has also been an eye-opener revealing how much better the kerbside services are in St Edmundsbury than in Babergh, where she lives.  It's been fantastic watching Lesley's involvement and how she too has brought the subject alive for her own readers, with some great features about the local HWRC in the Bury Free Press, along with a more recent piece on how the Theatre Royal is an amazing reuse hub.

And what about the BBC Radio Suffolk Staff?  I unexpectedly found myself in the studio on Friday hearing the feedback news editor Kate Arkell and presenter Lesley Dolphin who took the challenge with Mark Murphy, who fronted the campaign.  Sadly Mark wasn't around that day to celebrate the successes but Rachel Sloane, who has been following the campaign from afar, stood in with much enthusiasm.  It was great to be a fly-on-the-wall listening to our county's broadcasters talk about their rubbish.

Kate regularly used to throw away three and often four bags (12 litre) of rubbish each fortnight but now at the end of the Rubbish Diet she is down to just one bag, thanks to recycling more at home at the HWRC.

Lesley confirmed that Mark Murphy has definitely changed his habits and no longer throws so much away in landfill.  In their household, they've managed to reduce down from 3 bags of rubbish per week, weighing over 6kg to just one 2kg bag, again making better use of the HWRC by recycling all the types of plastics that would have previously ended up in their landfill bins.

And are they going to continue?  Oh yes!

What music to my ears.

And there's no excuse really, especially as all involved seem to have found their balance, discovered their new rubbish comfort zones and, as I've heard most people say, have made it easy on themselves.

It's been a great campaign and huge thanks and congratulations to everyone who has got involved and for making it such a success.  You have been amazing and I hope this will be the start of something that will help make Suffolk the cleanest and greenest county for which we strive.

The BBC Radio Suffolk Rubbish Diet may be over but if you missed it, you can of course still follow your own challenge by signing up at www.therubbishdiet.org.uk and be part of the fun.

And what better time to start.  As one campaign closes, a new one begins, for this coming week is national Recycle Week, celebrating its 10th anniversary, and the Suffolk Waste Partnership is getting behind it with gusto, with events taking place around the county.

Visit www.suffolkrecycling.org.uk for details of the Plastics Roadshow. 

Go on, be part of it.  It's a fabulous campaign that helps you really get to grips with those plastics and will have your bin slimmed in no time at all.

Thank you once again!  You've been brilliant.  Don't ever stop talking rubbish... because that's how the magic happens!

Abbeycroft Leisure takes a trip to the MRF

Abbeycroft Leisure has been tackling the Rubbish Diet with vigour and this latest blogpost comes courtesy of Cat Rayson, Abbeycroft Leisure's Communication Officer, who helped organise a staff educational visit to Suffolk's MRF.  Over to Cat...
 
A few weeks ago, some Abbeycroft Leisure staff members visited the Viridor Masons Materials Recycling Facility (MRF), at Great Blakenham. We were all very excited about the educational visit as at heart we’re all recycling geeks and the thought of getting a look at what happens to our blue bin items when they leave our homes was really cool!

We were greeted by Carole Locke and shown into the Education Suite where Carole gave us an introductory presentation which included information on how the unique partnership between Viridor Ltd and the Suffolk Recycling Consortium was formed. The Consortium is made up of six District and Borough councils across Suffolk – Babergh, Forest Heath, Ipswich, Mid Suffolk, St Edmundsbury and Suffolk Coastal. Masons Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) receives the recyclate from the Consortium members. 

During the tour itself, we saw first-hand the many different processes that take place to sort our recyclate into separate material types. These include large revolving drums called trommels, ballistic separators, a series of conveyor belts, magnets, hi-tech cameras (optical sorters) and approximately 25 line sorters. Sorting operatives are employed by Viridor to hand-pick contaminated and non-recyclable items from the belts – a way of ensuring quality control standards are met.

 

(A lorry arriving with blue bin material)

(Recycling material moving up a conveyer belt)

We found out how steel and aluminium are separated by magnets. Steel, being magnetic, is extracted by a runner of heavy duty magnets which attract the material and carry it off into a separate receptacle. Aluminium is repelled by two opposing magnets and ends up in its own area.

(The magnets at work)

After the tour we had the opportunity to ask questions. We discovered why shredded paper, plastic carrier bags and film are not accepted at Masons; these materials can clog the machinery at the MRF and bring the entire plant to a grinding halt!

Materials welcomed at the MRF are loose paper and card, cans and tins, aluminium foil and foil containers, plastic bottles (with the lids removed – but these can still be recycled) and hard plastic containers such as yogurt pots, ice cream tubs etc. All materials should be clean and dry – and put into the recycling bins loose.

Currently there is also a trial textile scheme. All textiles sent to Masons MUST be put into the special bags issued for this purpose, then the bags need to be placed inside the recycling bin on top of the other materials.

We learned that while most of us are still putting scrunchy plastic into our blue bins (bread packets, food wrap) it currently is unable to be recycled by Viridor. Armed with our new knowledge, we all collected free recycling sort bags from our local council household recycling centres and are storing up our scrunchy plastic for recycling there instead. 

Did you know that one recycled plastic bottle can light a 60watt bulb for 6 hours!? That’s amazing! With all the knowledge we gained on our visit, we’ll be recycling enough to power our own homes!

Viridor welcomes pre-booked visits from adult groups, organisations, and schools. We would encourage anyone who wants to learn more about recycling in Suffolk to contact Carole Locke by phone 01473 836903, mobile 07778160389, email clocke@viridor.co.uk or visit the website www.suffolkrecyclingconsortium.org.uk to arrange a visit.

Week 6 & 7 - it's all happening in Suffolk

It's been another busy couple of weeks with the BBC Radio Suffolk Rubbish Diet, not least because it was the Suffolk Show last week, which profiles many of the great things that are happening around our county.  It was a great chance to catch up with some of those who are helping to reduce our county's waste including Bolton Bros, the Suffolk County Council waste team and their partners FCC Environment and social enterprise Eco Service's Outdoor Plastic Furniture.

I'd also been invited to take part in the Love Food Hate Waste cookery demos, hosted by chef Richard Fox in the Green Suffolk marquee.

It was great experience, learning how to make a delicious fishcake from a leftover fishfinger, mashed potato, chopped broccoli and lemon juice.  Richard was a great source of inspiration with top tips on how to store herbs for longer, such as parsley, around which he wraps damp paper towel.  He's also an advocate for making meal planning easier for all by cooking in batch and storing meals in tubs for heating up the next day.

Meanwhile, the BBC Radio Suffolk team has been tackling some great Rubbish Diet topics, sharing ideas about cleaning without waste and this week has been all about decluttering, making sure that you free up all of those unused things hanging around your house and find a good home for them, such as Freecycle, Freegle, local charities, or auction sites such as eBay and CD/DVD sales sites like Zapper.  Of course, most things that can't be rehomed for reuse can be recycled at Suffolk's Household Waste Recycling Centres, which also have reuse containers that support local charities.

And of course, there's always the idea of repair, thinking about extending the life of the stuff we love, fixing, mending and making-do, before rushing off to ditch it and buy a replacement.

If you need some inspiration, listen to Zoe from Ipswich based CraftyBaba who runs courses on all sorts of things such as knitting, sewing and crafting.  You'll find the interview on yesterday's Mark Murphy show.  Fast forward to 2hr 43m.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0193g5s

The real highlight has been hearing how brilliantly many of the Rubbish Dieters are doing, with feel-good comments on how surprised they've been about how much rubbish they've thrown away previously and how easy it has been to reduce down.  But don't just take my word for it, listen in to the Mark Murphy show next week to hear how folk have been doing and how they get on in the final week, the Zero Waste Week, and you can also find out how one of our local newspaper editors has been getting on too.  Follow Lesley Anslow's rubbish diet at http://www.lesleyrubbishdiet.blogspot.co.uk/.

Even if you haven't joined in so far, you can still have a go at next week's Zero Waste Week.  Just recycle and compost all you can and see how much rubbish you can avoid creating.  If you live in Bury St Edmunds,  more information in my column in this week's Bury Free Press. Good luck!  See you next week.

Over half way there!

It's hard to believe that we're coming to the end of Week 5 of the BBC Radio Suffolk Rubbish Diet, with only just a few more weeks left.

It's been a busy couple of weeks.  Weeks 4 & 5 have in fact been very hectic.  Although I didn't have any time to blog last week, there were some great features on the Mark Murphy show about how the garden can help reduce waste,  including a Master Composter Betsy Reid, who gave some great advice about composting and using the HotBin for her village's community composting project in Waldringfield.

Karen Kenny, one of Suffolk's allotmenteer experts encouraged us to get gardening, even if all we have is a balcony, where you can still grow produce such as spinach, tomatoes and salad leaves.  The Coffee House in Moreton Hall was also featured too, highlighting their own home-grown herbs, which they use as ingredients in their dishes.  Amongst many other things, they also give away their coffee grounds and promote the idea of a reusable keep cup to replace the idea of disposable cups, which was a great intro to this week's theme of 'Ditching the Disposables', where they are offering free coffee this week for anyone who takes in one of their Keep Cups.

We kicked off this week's challenge, asking listeners to think about the different types of disposable products that feature in their daily lives and to find ways in which they can replace them with either reusable alternatives or make them last longer.  Just because something is 'disposable', it doesn't mean it has to be used just once - take plastic cutlery for instance.  Until it breaks, it can be used over and over again.

This Wednesday's BIG Conversation was reusable vs disposable nappies.  It was a great debate, and if you are pondering using reusable nappies, it really is worth listening into Wednesday's show on iPlayer, where there's even news of a nappy-library network based in Ipswich.

Please do keep letting us know how you are getting on!  We are hearing some great stories of 'rubbish dieters' really making some dents in their bins, with one household reducing their rubbish by 75%.

That's enough to keep us smiling through this grim weather!

Don't forget, if you're at the Suffolk Show next week, Mark and his team will be broadcasting from the BBC Radio Suffolk stand each morning.  I'll be there on Thursday, joining Mark just after 10am and then taking part in one of the Love Food Hate Waste cookery demonstrations at 2:30pm.  You'll see my food chopping skills in action!

Also, do pop along to the Green Suffolk, Creating the Greenest County marquee, where there will be lots of advice about how you can reduce waste in Suffolk, a perfect opportunity to solve any outstanding questions.

And of course, it's not too late to join in!  If you have been inspired by the stories you've heard on BBC Radio Suffolk, you can register to do the Rubbish Diet too.  Just click on the Sign Up button at www.therubbishdiet.org.uk.

Abbeycroft Leisure checks out Havebury Housing recycling

Abbeycroft Leisure and Havebury Housing are both supporting the BBC Radio Suffolk Rubbish Diet.  Cat Rayson from Abbeycroft Leisure writes about her team's visit to check out the super-organised recycling system at the housing association's main office.

On Friday our intrepid Abbeycroft Leisure recyclers headed to Havebury Housing to meet Michael Blackford - their green man whose expertise we planned to utilize to our benefit for our own Slim Your Bin challenge.

Michael met us in reception where we got our first view of their recycling efforts:

 

Very snazzy. We have similar bins at Bury St Edmunds Leisure centre but with the volume of visitors we get and the amount of small children, they’re not always used in the correct manner. Quite often you’ll encounter a banana peel in the cans and plastic side of the bin – which is never a treat.

This problem is one of many that face a business when trying to encourage recycling: education. How do we educate people to use the bins correctly? Michael’s answer is that people learn in time and get used to the process... although we didn’t see many children running around Havebury on a high from their swim session. I guess we have different challenges in that department.

Sweeping into the ground floor office, the first thing that struck us was the size of the open plan environment (and the cake table we passed on our way to the bins!). Our offices at the Leisure centre are so much smaller in comparison – surely if Havebury can implement a recycling system on this scale, it’ll be easy for us?

Each cluster of desks have their own bin station. Some employees are within throwing distance so I’m sure some competitive games of bin basketball take place daily. Others have to walk from their desks to the bins, it looks like exercise is being encouraged concurrently with recycling! The bins are pretty fancy and have handy ‘toppers’ what indicate their use: blue for recycling and black for general waste. This is a delightful coincidence as our council bin collection separates as such so there’s no need to associate further colours with this work-based environmental outlook.

We moved upstairs to IT (and pass another cake table – two cake tables!! I wonder if they have any vacancies…?) and talk to the team about recycling further office supplies. We notice they have a big open box full of printer cartridges. We get through toner like its ice cream at Abbeycroft Leisure and at present, we don’t have a recycling system in place for our old toner cartridges.

Havebury Housing have a super handy box supplied by ‘Each One Counts’ http://www.eachonecounts.co.uk/ a company who provide you with a recycling box to fill up. You fill the box, you email them and they collect the box and donate money to charity. So not only is your conscience clear from recycling, you get the added bonus of giving money to charity – all for something that would have previously have gone to landfill!

With our visit drawing to a close, Michael made some last suggestions in regards to how we can be more environmentally conscious in regards to our attitudes to recycling in our offices.

• Change printer paper to recycled paper – it doesn’t have to be a complete swap, you can phase it in gradually.
• Create bin stations in the office with clear differences between the bins and what they hold.
• Look at having confidential waste collected for shredding/recycling.

We’ve since ordered our own recycling boxes for Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill Leisure Centres for our used toner cartridges and we’re on the case of ordering our new bins and looking at more eco-friendly supplies. Next stop – a visit to the Masons Materials Recycling Facility in Great Blakenham to see what happens to our cardboard and plastic when we put it in the blue bin. Hard hats ahoy!

Week 3 - Reducing food waste on the airwaves

Ooooh, I wish I could package up this week's content from BBC Radio Suffolk and keep it forever.

It's Week 3 of The BBC Radio Suffolk Rubbish Diet, and we're addressing the problems of food waste.  It is such a huge topic, there's a lot to get your teeth into and chew over!

It's been great to hear stories of how some participants have already reduced their rubbish by 50% just from recycling/reducing much of the packaging waste, but if we can tackle the food waste issue, we are going to see even more amazing results.

For instance our household waste in Suffolk includes 35,000 tonnes of food waste, which costs us local taxpayers £3.14m in disposal fees each year.  Just imagine if as a county we could halve that! Our contributions as taxpayers and the money in our own pockets would go much further.

This week, BBC Radio Suffolk has introduced another fabulous line-up of contributors on the Mark Murphy show and today alone we heard a great interview with Emma Marsh who heads up the Love Food Hate Waste campaign, which caught my own imagination back in 2007.

If you do nothing else this week, I'd highly recommend listening into today's show on iPlayer, where Emma shares her tips on planning and food storage.  Just fast forward to around 1h 12mins for advice on fridge temperatures, invigorating limp carrots and how to extend salad leaves, plus much more.

Other great highlights from today also include the amazing story of Jim & Diane from Felixstowe who haven't needed to put out their rubbish bin for four years, thanks to avoiding stuff that can't be recycled, recycling all that they can, keeping on top of food waste and composting the rest in their wormery.  FOUR YEARS!  That's incredible.  You'll find their feel-good interview with roving reporter Luke Deal at 1h 28mins.

And at 2h 26m, you'll also find Colin Brown, Director of Engineering at the Institution of Mechanical Engineering, discussing the Institution's report on food waste, Global Food - waste not, want not, which estimates that 30-50% of food waste doesn't reach a human stomach.

With callers sharing their top tips and highlighting the issues that they've seen, it's proving to be a hot topic.

And if that's not enough, you should listen into yesterday's show too, with Mark Matthews sitting in, featuring the Feeding the 5K's Gleaning network, helping to rescue unsold food from farmers to feed those who are living in poverty.  You can hear Martin Bowman explaining the concept at around 1h 8mins.

And further into the programme (starting at 2h 8mins) are some great tips from Super Scrimper's contributor Jane Sago, who's also the Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Suffolk East Federation of Women's Institutes.

Coming up later this week, we'll also hear Luke Deal investigating 'fatbergs' in the water systems of Suffolk, as a reminder that flushing unused food waste down the loo is not the answer to reducing food waste or disposing of it responsibly.

So if you're inspired to tackle your own food mountain, my top tip is to start monitoring it straight away and keep a food waste diary to identify solutions for the things that you regularly throw away, through buying & cooking less, storing better and working out what best fits your routine.

If you sign up to the Rubbish Diet challenge, you'll receive lots more advice on how to reduce all kinds of waste.  And for more recipes than you can shake a stick at, visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com, where you can also download their new iPhone & Android app.

And please do keep your stories coming in, whether your news is good or bad.  It's always great to hear from you and together we're making a real difference. THANK YOU!

Free compost giveaway in Suffolk

FREE compost, bargain green waste bins and environmental experts are on offer to green fingered Suffolk residents during National Compost Awareness Week 2013.

From Monday 6 to Tuesday 14 May, the Suffolk Waste Partnership will be highlighting the environmental and financial benefits of those who choose to make and use their own compost.

To celebrate the week and to thank Suffolk residents for supporting green waste recycling services, officers will be giving out free bags of compost, whilst stocks last, to Suffolk residents visiting Household Waste Recycling Centres across the county.

Green fingered residents will be able to pick up a 25 litre bag of soil improver together with information on home composting and local authority green waste collection services, at the following Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) events:

• Portman’s Walk HWRC, Ipswich, IP1 2DW, Tuesday 7th May, 10am – 4pm
• Hadleigh HWRC, Crockett Way, Hadleigh, IP7 6RH, Wednesday 8 May, 10am - 4pm
• Mildenhall HWRC, Mildenhall, IP28 7JQ, Thursday 9 May, 10am - 4pm
• Bury St Edmunds HWRC, Rougham Road (U8048), IP33 2RN, Friday 10 May, 10am - 4pm
• Lowestoft HWRC, Hadenham Road, South Lowestoft Industrial Estate, NR33 7NF, Monday 13 May, 10am - 4pm
• Foxhall HWRC, Foxhall Road, Brightwell, Ipswich, IP10 0HT, Tuesday 14 May, 10am - 4pm

Loose soil improver will also be given away for free and two further events - but you'll need to take along a spade and bags to help yourself.

• Needham Market Lake, Mill Meadow side Needham Market, Sunday 12th May, 9am to 3pm (or until stocks last)
• East Town Park, Haverhill, CB9 7UR, Monday 13th, 10am to 4pm (or until stocks last)

An average household in Suffolk could divert 150kg of organic waste a year from landfill by home composting. When sent to landfill, organic waste breaks down without oxygen, producing methane which contributes to global warming.

For those interested in making their own compost for use at home, there has never been a better time to start, with a whole range of compost bins and accessories available to Suffolk residents at bargain prices. The Suffolk Waste Partnership is also offering even greater subsidies to residents who purchase composting systems designed to process cooked food waste.


There will be a number of 'Compost Clinics' during the week. Suffolk Master Composter volunteers will be 'on call' to show residents how to compost at home and to offer free trouble-shooting advice. Compost advice clinics will be held at:

• Tuesday 7th May – Endeavour House (SCC), Ipswich, 11.30 – 2pm
• Thursday 9th May - Endeavour House (SCC), Ipswich, 11.30 – 2pm
• Sunday 12th May – South Suffolk Show (Craft Marquee), Ampton Racecourse, Ingham, Bury St Edmunds (on A134), 9am – 5pm

For details of all the items available to Suffolk households through the offer, and to order, visit www.suffolk.getcomposting.com or call 0844 571 4444. Further details on Compost Awareness Week activities will be listed on www.suffolkrecycling.org.uk

Composting will also be covered as part of the BBC Radio Suffolk Rubbish Diet in Week 4, commencing on 13 May, so if you've been thinking about getting into composting, there's no better time to start.