Reflecting the challenge

I'm in a real reflective mood today, thinking about this time last year, when I was on the blower to Kate from the council in a bit of a panic.

I'd got myself all het up over plastic bags. Not just carrier bags, but grape bags, bread bags and frozen peas packaging. I realised these had still been bunging up my black bin and I needed to find a solution, but Kate verbally soothed my brow and reassured me I could recycle them at the local supermarket or even our nearest HWRC (household waste recycling centre).

I can't believe I got myself into such a lather back then, but the pressure was on. There was one more week until Zero Waste Week and I was determined to give it my best shot to really see how low we could go. I'd even swapped my bins around, using my 50l stainless steel Brabantia to guard the recycling while my teeny tiny recycling bin took over its roll as the new dustbin.

I had also started eeking out the toothpaste, for fear that I'd have to chuck out the empty tube during the big week itself, and instead of filling the whole toothbrush head, I reduced the amount to the pea size as recommended by the manufacturers. We'd also started reusing things, stuff like polystyrene, which would normally end up in the bin.

Before doing the zero waste challenge, I felt I did my bit for recycling but I'd always been bugged by the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle mantra. Every time I'd read or indeed heard someone speak about the 3 R's I'd wanted to poke them in the ear with a stick or run off into the distance with my hands over my ears singing la,la,la,la, Boring la,la,la,la,la.

Somehow it all felt like a virtual straightjacket that would spoil my fun. And God help anyone who threw me some extra Rs, such as Refuse, Rethink or indeed Repair.

You can tell I was in denial at the start of the challenge because when I realised what I needed to embrace, I handed the job over to a YouTube video set to the the 3Rs by Jack Johnson. Like whispering the name Voldemort in the Harry Potter tales, I didn't dare say the words myself. My only contribution was a brief statement in the vain of "I don't think I need to spell out the basics, as there are enough organisations out there who already do this".

And I meant it. I didn't want get on the bandwagon.

How I now cringe at my attitude and if my name was Rodney, I'd have Del Boy poking a stick in my ear calling me a right Plonker!

Twelve months on I feel I've now grown up and have recognised the real importance of Reducing and Reusing and even Repairing before you can even embark on the final step of recycling. I've also done my fair share of rethinking and refusing. How far things have come eh!

And I've learned that it's not about spoiling fun or taking away choices. In a way we have more choice and have saved ourselves a right load of cash in the process, for example we've paid for the Eglu with the money we've saved on our shopping each week.

So as I prepare for the anniversary of my Zero Waste Week, I've finally got over myself. I am now ready to blog about the relevance of reducing, reusing and recycling and am getting really excited about uncovering some fine examples this week.

The problem is though, with my new way of thinking....or should I call it rethinking....next week's Maximum Waste Week challenge is getting me more in a tizz than Zero Waste Week ever did.

It's a good job I'm doing it to raise money for Comic Relief or I might just back out.

So while I go and plan my campaign and try to calm myself down, I think it's time to hand over to Jack Johnson again, for him to share his magic words. Now don't put your hands over your ears and sing la,la,la will you? If like me, you too are in denial, you'll find this the perfect introduction.




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Recycling School Assembly

Phew. I'm back! Having walked the wheelie bin to school, yesterday, I've talked the talk at school assembly today...and survived.

The children were great. We started off by letting them guess how much rubbish I had in my wheelie bin after six long weeks...and it was so exciting showing them how little there was...just one carrier bag full. There were gasps and wows. I could see my eldest boy, little J in the audience looking dead chuffed.

I showed them this excellent video about a town in Japan that doesn't have bin lorries and where residents recycle everything by separating waste into 34 containers. We then talked about Zero Waste and with a couple of helpers, we demonstrated how we can actually do this in Bury St Edmunds. The difference is that over here we have the luxury of bin lorries that come and get some stuff from the kerbside, but most other things can be recycled through services dotted around in the shops, garden centres and recycling centres.

Isn't it amazing how much recycling can be done if you know where to find the hotspots. I've even read that the council is planning on-street bins so that people will be able to recycle on the go too. So for the school fayre on Saturday, we're going to have our own bins that will help us recycle people's plastic bags, fruit juice cartons, plastic bottles, paper and cans. This week the children will make up labels for the bins...and will no doubt tell their parents where to put their rubbish.

But what about the finale?...well, I couldn't resist my favourite video illustrating the Jack Johnson's rendition of The Three R's...Always a winner. I've pointed to it on the site before, but just in case you've missed it, here it is again. Enjoy.


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