Slimming the Beaufoix Bin

Meet the Beaufoix Bin. Sounds posh doesn't it? It's even green, but don't let that fool you. It's not a recycling bin but a good old-fashioned (and overflowing) rubbish bin.


It's a real pleasure to have made its acquaintance, not because of its swank sounding name, but because it belongs to the lovely Jo Beaufoix, a fellow blogger and writer, who has volunteered her bin for The Rubbish Diet treatment.

And you can see why.



Despite its 240 litre capacity, there's no room for manoeuvre by bin day.

Just imagine if the Beaufoix household missed its fortnightly collection, especially as they often have an extra three or four carrier bags of rubbish that can't fit into the bin and are consequently taken directly to the tip.

Anyway, you've met the overweight bin, and it's now time to meet its owner, Jo Beaufoix herself.


Jo lives in the old mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, with her husband, two young children, a gerbil, a lorry-load of slugs and a fictional ostrich called Babs.

Jo wants to slim her bin mainly because she wants to help the environment, but is also hoping that the experience will help her and her family lead a healthier lifestyle and save some money along the way.

The Beaufoix household recycles whatever they can including card, paper and tin cans in their blue bin, which is provided by Mansfield District Council and they take glass to the bottle bank and clothes to the clothes bank, charity shops or carboot sales, so they are already pretty organised. They also have a brown bin collection for garden waste.

So the challenge is to work on the rest of the rubbish that goes in their landfill bin, which includes Aerosols, Batteries, Chocolate and Snack Bar Wrappers, Cleaning Waste, Cooked Food and Fruit and Vegetable Peelings. On top of that there are also the Gerbil's Bedding, Nappies, Meat Packaging Trays, Tea Bags & Coffee Grounds, Tetra Pak Cartons and Sanitary Products.

The key task for Jo and her family is to reduce all this by 50% and they are committed to doing this over the next few months.

It's great news that the Beaufoix household is also keen to start composting straight away, which means that they will be able to cut out some major things such as fruit and vegetable peelings, tea bags, coffee grounds and the gerbil's bedding, which is mainly shredded paper.

For Jo, there is no better time to start composting, as this week is Compost Awareness Week, which is being promoted by WRAP and the Compost Awareness Association and is supported by major garden centres, DIY stores and local authorities.

The good news is that living in Nottinghamshire, she will be able to take advantage of the cheap deals offered by Nottinghamshire County Council, which is running compost awareness events on 10th and 11th May, where compost bins will be available from as little as £17.

There are other composting events running across the country this week and you can find more details about local events at www.compostawarenessweek.org.uk. Further inspiration can also be found at the Recycle Now website, where you can see a video of celebrity garden designer Diarmuid Gavin indulging in the subject.

So while I am busy working on her Rubbish Diet plan this week, why not pop over and visit Jo at www.jobeaufoix.com, where you'll receive a warm welcome and an insight into her fun character... oh and I mustn't forget... the adventurous antics of her ostrich Babs.

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