My New Year's resolution for 2010 is to concentrate on the Zero Waste Challenge advocated on;
a) The Rubbish Diet,
b) My Zero Waste and,
c) The Little book of Rubbish Ideas (one of my Partner's Xmas presents).
Thankfully, Mrs Average over at the Rubbish Diet is providing a eight weekly guide in how to achieve this, am a little behind as week one didn't happen because of the snow! Anyway, it has given me a little breathing space to get the rest of the family on board (DP and DS) and get our minds focused. That achieved, we are ready to go!
My motivation has been the above mentioned Xmas present Book (my present to DP), which has been avidly read cover to cover over the holidays by us both. Also our house is in serious need of decluttering, so thought I would have an onslaught this coming year.
The amount of "stuff" that has accumulated in our house, previously spacious for us three, has gained momentous proportions. Thankfully DS has just about grown out of "toys" and is more interested in books (at long last) and electronic entertainment, which proves small and neat. So I must find ways of recycling all these possessions to new homes.
In the past, I have always been of a "green" bent of mind and have utilised charity shops, charity bags, handing stuff on, and school Fayres as a means to recycle stuff, but must now take the bull by the horns and put things on Freecycle to reduce our belongings. I remember the day when we gave away our old washing machine (which was in perfect working order, just old) , after a kitchen refit, to a couple with a small child, who couldn't afford to buy one. I was soooo pleased that they would be able to make good use of it that I had a very warm glow for days after. This is the sort of benefit that needs to be promoted about recycling larger items after a refit, the previous stuff is not necessarily defunct, just not suitable. Someone else might view these items in a completely different light, AND it saves it all from going to landfill, so a win-win situation!
We have always been very keen to recycle the standard glass, tin, paper stuff and also plastic carrier bags when that first became available; but I can see that there are numerous areas in which we could improve!
Currently, our local Council, Cardiff, have built an enormous £10 million pound state of the art recycling plant. We have all been given a black landfill wheelie bin, a green garden waste bin, a small green kitchen top food waste bin and green refuse bags for recyclables. All our neighbours, who once paid lip service to recycling do so now, but some better than others. I find it extremely annoying that we only put one Brabantia 30 litre bin bag to landfill every week (mainly full of only plastic packaging) and others bins are full to overflowing, so use our bin for their overspill!!!! Our Council fines those residents whose bins cannot be closed due to volume of rubbish to the tune of £75 a time. This obviously to encourage people to separate their rubbish properly, but some of them do not register this and need an additional home for their excess bags. It makes my blood boil to think that there is stuff that could be recycled lurking in there. Would I be considered odd if I took it out and reviewed the contents, or should I post notes into all my immediate neighbours as a means to shame the culprits??
So, time for a radical look at our eating (for food waste) and hopping habits (for non recycleable packaging) and a start on researching Freecycle as a prelude to the start of decluttering.
Have registered with the Mail Preference Society and have contacted the Royal Mail to opt out of their unwanted and unsolicited Door-to-Door deliveries. Need to contact another company, the direct marketing something or other to register our names and address with them. In that way we will no longer receive 10 useless catalogues in the run up to Christmas, hooray!
