A sense of déjà vu: but this time we've got company

I've got some really exciting news about the Seven Suffolk Streets project about which I wrote a few weeks ago.We received a letter today announcing that St Edmundsbury has selected our street to be part of a major waste reduction project, which is being co-ordinated by the Suffolk Waste Partnership. And over the next few months residents will have the opportunity to sign-up and find out ways in which households can volunteer to halve the amount of waste that's currently sent to landfill.The idea is that during March next year, fellow residents will attempt to cut our rubbish by half for a Waste...

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Adventures at London Zoo with big chickens, mummy bloggers and animal poo!

Oh yes, you could say that again! It has most definitely been a case of Animal Adventures. And at London Zoo no less, our destination on a wet and soggy Sunday!Organised by the P&G site SuperSavvyMe and the British Mummy Bloggers network, a family visit to the zoo was a great opportunity to catch up with some old blogging friends and meet some new ones.Like this big chicken for instance!Well that's what Mr A called it when the kids asked what an emu was! And it must be said it was a bit more friendly than the pelicans, who had the body language of my grandmother when she got bored of visitors.After...

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Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!

The official Bury St Edmunds Town CrierToday I'm all of a lather.I was going to dedicate a whole blogpost to Nestlé's new Christmas selection boxes - you know the ones that come with 95% recyclable packaging. As they're the first large confectionery manufacturer to ditch the plastic inserts, I thought it would be worthy news.Then I realised time was running out to vote for the Tetra Pak video competition, so I decided a bit of self-promotion wouldn't go amiss, to plead for you to vote for our "with tantrums and tears" How Do You Squash Yours entry, before time runs out this Sunday. Please, please,...

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Suffolk people love their food but hate waste

Mike Culver - St Edmundsbury Borough CouncilI know this post is going to show me up as a bit of a recycling groupie because while most folk are happy to be star-spotting and hanging around stage doors for photos and autographs of their favourite stars, there's me pegging it into town to try and snap our local recycling officers hard at work!So having got the nod that it was St Edmundsbury's turn to host Suffolk County Council's marvellous Love Food Hate Waste Stand, I thought I'd drop into town yesterday to take some photos of the free tools that they were giving away to residents as part of their...

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Waste Watch makes recycling fun

Fun & Frolics at the Waste Educators Annual ConferenceL-R: Beverlie Warman, Laura Silverstone, Steven Lawson & mewith Waste Watch's Maree WallerYesterday I had the pleasure of participating in the Annual Waste Educators Conference, organised by the wonderful environmental charity Waste Watch.It was a truly inspirational day, with workshops covering a wide range of accessible ideas to make the concept of waste reduction fun, especially for the younger audiences in the UK. There were also presentations from Kirstie Hawkes of Procter & Gamble about the ways in which the company is slimming...

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Charity Auction for Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund

Today in Cumbria people are still struggling to get to work and school. It's no surprise given the severity of the recent floods. As well as the terrible consequences affecting people's homes and lives, sixteen bridges have also collapsed. I can't begin to imagine what it must be like for people in the area, but I can fully understand one woman's desire to help.Kat, at Housewife Confidential, is helping to raise money for the Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund, by organising an auction, which will be hosted on Bambino Goodies. The idea is to create a series of auction ‘lots’ of varying levels to...

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What women want...according to the Independent on Sunday

Well, there's never a quiet moment in the Almost Average household, even on Sundays, especially as I woke up this morning to find my face in a double-page-spread of the Independent on Sunday, along with David Cameron, Gordon Brown and three other bloggers, Liz at Violet Posy, Sandy Calico and TwentySomethingMum Claire, all members of the British Mummy Bloggers network.The feature which discusses the importance of the female vote to the outcome of the next election comes hot on the heels of Tory leader David Cameron's live Mumsnet chat on Thursday. The online version can be read in full by clicking...

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Chatting live about David Cameron at Alpha Mummy

Today I'm getting away from the bins and the quarrels over who's going to squash the cartons. Instead there are more exciting plans afoot.At 1.45 I will be pinning on my British Mummy Bloggers badge and popping up at the Times Online's Alpha Mummy blog to join Lifestyle Editor Jennifer Howze and blogger Susanna aka A Modern Mother as well as Nixdminx and Potty Mummy for real-time analysis of David Cameron's live chat on Mumsnet.The leader of the Conservative Party has been invited onto the parenting forum to discuss matters that are important to its members. The questions will be posed live...

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Well I have thought about moving to Cambridge with my Tetra Paks...

Enjoying The Big Weekend in Cambridge, earlier this summer.Okay I'm not that obsessed that I would up sticks and move over the county border just because of new recycling facilities, but it is really great to hear the news that Cambridge City Council is the latest Local Authority to introduce kerbside collection for cartons. That's something we don't have the benefit of in Bury St Edmunds. Currently all our drinks cartons have to be taken to the local reycling centres for collection.However since April 2007, Tetra Pak and the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE UK) have made...

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Steps towards a thrifty Christmas

Friends and family should close their eyes now, as I don't want to ruin the festive surprise that awaits.Inspired by fellow blogger, VioletPosy's Thrifty Christmas week, I took a break from blogging and tweeting on Monday to venture out into the garden to prune one of the Photinia shrubs - also known as a Red Robin. An appropriate name I thought for my festive plan, which was to strip the leaves and bind them together to make a twig star Christmas decoration.It was a bit fiddly but with practice will become much easier. The best bit is, as I've only used scraps of fabric to tie the twigs together,...

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CIWM Awards 2009: behind the scenes in the world of waste

Apologies for my silence on the blog, but I've been off gallivanting again with Mr A, this time living it up at The Dorchester in London.The occasion was the CIWM Awards for Environmental Excellence, held yesterday, to recognise excellence within the resources and wastes management industry.And look, I didn't even have to sneak in through the back door. I was there in my official capacity as a finalist in the Recycling Champion category.And yes, I can assure you that behind the cool, calm exterior, I was very nervous as they read through each of the nominations, especially as this professional...

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Killing Thyme but it isn't all bad news!

Continuing on a gardening theme, I thought I'd offer an update on our growing antics this year.But I am very sorry to admit that as well as being a worm murderer, this year I have also been responsible for killing thyme too as well as a few other green and lovely things.The problem is I am not naturally green-fingered on account of me having great aspirations but insufficient time to achieve them. And it's been a great lesson to me that I shouldn't invest time in the garden unless I am able to commit regular hours to it its upkeep, otherwise our best intentions just go to waste along with the...

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Cluck, cluck,cluck, cluck, cluck!

So here they are. My three little hens: Snowflake, Chickie and Speckledy (named by the children, of course - can you guess which is which?).I've not given them much blogspace since they arrived in the spring, partly because I've been very busy with so many other things, not least sorting out their poop - yes chickens do a lot of that as I've come to learn. However, as my thoughts this week are focusing on the garden and how composting and wormeries can help with food waste, I thought it would be great time to share news of how my hens are getting on....or indeed how I'm getting on with my hens.I...

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You really don't need much space to compost

Look, you can even get a wormery for your desk at work!available from Bubble HouseHot on the heels of yesterday's post about my new Worm Cafe wormery, comes the news from Recycle Now that lack of space in the garden is one of the main reasons given by many people for not composting garden and household waste.However according to Recycle Now’s Home Composting campaign, it need not be a barrier and with so many composting and other options available, anyone with outside space – around 95 per cent of households - should be able to give it a go. Recycle Now's research reveals that over a third...

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Getting all wiggly at the worm cafe

Don't you love it when folk give you a second chance in life?It makes you feel grateful doesn't it, especially when you're carrying a whole load of guilt about being a......Worm Murderer!Yes a killer of defenceless little wiggly things.I know. I am guilty as charged m'lord and I don't feel good about it.Which is why I am thankful for a lovely gift I received from Wiggly Wigglers, which arrived on my doorstep just over a month ago.It was their latest wormery...appropriately called the Worm Cafe, giving me the opportunity to make up for my misdemeanours.The Can-o-Worms wormery that I'd previously...

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