Zero Waste Europe - my top 10 favourite blogposts

So, did you know it's the European Week for Waste Reduction?  I guess it's not the most snappy of names to roll off the tongue, but I love the fact there is one week in the year that's dedicated towards bringing our diverse continent together in the fight against waste.It also makes me feel that my dusty old degree in Modern European Studies from (cough) the 1980s, still has some relevance to my life today.  The concluding motto in 1989 was that 'Europe is a unity through its diversity'.  I can't remember what I made of that back then, but when it comes to tackling our mountain...

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The Rubbish Diet could be coming to a town near you!

The Rubbish Diet team visiting Nesta!Please excuse my tardiness in sharing this VERY EXCITING news with you. I should have done it last week, but with news of my mum falling ill, then rushing to Wales to see her, then losing my laptop en route, and continued worries about her health, understandably this blog has had to take a back seat.However, I can't keep it quiet any longer!  What's happening with The Rubbish Diet is far too exciting to keep tucked away in my desk drawers and if you follow me on Twitter, you may have indeed caught a few snippets of the news.So to the sound of an imaginary...

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Celebrating the launch of The Rubbish Diet in Shropshire

Meet Ali, my new partner in grime from Shrewsbury. Well, I say 'grime' what I really mean is striving for lighter, cleaner bins throughout Shropshire. Ali Thomas is the driving force behind the launch of the Rubbish Diet challenge in Shropshire. Organised by Ali and Katy Anderson, as a Transition Shrewsbury project, the challenge was announced on Thursday to a room full of local residents who are now set to slim their bins before Christmas.The Shropshire project will be based on the Internet-based Rubbish Diet 2012 challenge, which I ran earlier this year and I will be working closely with Ali...

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The Rubbish Diet Challenge goes on tour!

I am immensely excited to announce that the Rubbish Diet Challenge, which until now has been kept to the confines of the Internet, is, for the very first time, being launched as a community based initiative in a number of locations around the UK.Inspired by my online challenge, which took eight households through slimming their bins at the beginning of the year, two organisations are now taking the concept into their local communities and are seeking volunteers who want to reduce their waste for an 8 week challenge, set to start in the new year.Transition Town Shrewsbury in Shropshire is launching...

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Talking biogas & green heroes with Kevin McCloud at Grand Designs Live

Kevin McCloud at Grand Designs Live. (photo copyright GDL)If there's one event that's fast becoming a highlight of my annual calendar, it's Grand Designs Live and the opportunity to a have a peek at Kevin's Green Heroes. a collection of ten designers who have been handpicked by Kevin McCloud for their commitment to both sustainability and innovative ideas.And this year didn't disappoint. From sustainably produced wallpaper to tiles, reclaimed wood furniture to rainwater harvesting, there is something to appeal to everyone who is interested in great eco-design.For instance I love this gorgeous...

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Trashed! An evening in London with Jeremy Irons.

Jeremy Irons and producer Candida Brady introducing Trashed at London's Raindance FestivalMy passion for waste reduction has taken me to many places, but Saturday was the first time it's ever landed me in a movie premiere in the heart of London.But you can forget the red carpet on this occasion, even if the leading man was Jeremy Irons. For Saturday's movie was not some glitzy affair in Leicester Square,but an independent documentary, being screened as part of an independent film festival.Trashed, featuring Jeremy Irons and produced by Blenheim Films, takes us on a journey around the world...

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Beyond our bins: An inside peek at the UK's largest waste exhibition 'RWM with CIWM'

Having delivered a presentation last year at the country's largest waste management exhibition, I was keen to revisit RWM with CIWM and have a decent peek at what's really happening beyond our bins.It looks like I wasn't the only one!.The star attraction was not quite the latest wheelie bin that teleports your waste to the nearest recycling centre, but the rather marvellous Professor Brian Cox, who, thinking about it, could surely one day make that kind of magic happen.He was, unsurprisingly, a teeny bit popular, so I tried another route in......but for want of a pair of stilts and an invisibility...

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I'm feeling all decluttered after National Zero Waste Week.

What a week!I must have been absolutely out of my mind to suggest that I decluttered my kitchen for National Zero Waste Week. Nothing like pressure eh!When I first mentioned my plans to my husband, he threw me one of his looks, accompanied by hands on hips, warning me that surely I'd got the wrong idea.  That really, I shouldn't aim to chuck so much out during a week intended to slim our bin.Having ventured nowhere near the far corners of some of the cupboards for... er... 5 years, he had a point.  I really didn't know what I would be up against!But look!  The overhaul of the kitchen...

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My pledge for National Zero Waste Week: decluttering my kitchen, the final frontier!

Yes, you heard it here first!I'm going in!Venturing deep into my kitchen, where for the first time in nine years I am going to attempt to clear out all the cupboards, banish the clutter, get organised and prepare myself for the new school term!And that is my pledge for National Zero Waste Week, which kicks off on Monday. The theme this year is to encourage participants to do that "one more thing" to reduce waste.When I thought about what I could do, I knew that as we already recycle all we can, the only thing left to tackle was food waste. We still have some, not an enormous amount, but some food...

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Did you hear that I went to THE OLYMPICS? You have now!

There are very few moments when this blogger is speechless, but as I'm sat here watching the Olympics on TV, all I want to do is cry with happiness and  pride over the achievements of our athletes.  Since the opening ceremony last Friday, there has been so much to celebrate.And yesterday evening I was there, in the Olympic Stadium on 'Super Saturday', where I witnessed one of the greatest sporting events in history, the night that Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah all achieved gold medals for Great Britain, helping to celebrate the most successful day in British athletics for...

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National Zero Waste Week 2012: Coming soon!

Coming soon to a household near you - PREFERABLY YOURS - National Zero Waste Week is back!And this year, it is encouraging you to recycle ONE MORE THING!  It's so easy to get involved, either on your own, at home, or at your place of work!  You can find out much more information over at My Zero Waste, where the fabulous Mrs Green is leading the way once more.As ever I will be supporting National Zero Waste Week from my corner of Suffolk and will be back soon with more exciting news on what's happening locally. In the meantime, for a trip down memory lane, here's what happened on...

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So who made your pants? Let's talk about ethical underwear

Being a lover of fancy lingerie and a right nosey parker, I couldn't resist the opportunity to visit ethical pants manufacturer Who Made Your Pants?.I have been following them on Twitter for about six months, having spotted that they use end-of-line lace, which other lingerie manufacturers discard at the end of their seasonal runs. However, I soon discovered that this business was not just about saving waste, it was about turning around people's lives too.And it's that which tempted me to scoot all the way from Suffolk to Southampton for the company's open day and to finally have the chance to...

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An educational farmers' market. Lessons from a Suffolk primary school

On Friday, my son's primary school held its end-of-year award winning "Farmers' Market".With gazebos and traditional bunting to set the scene, the hall was transformed into a wonderful entrepreneurial venture, with fresh vegetables, plants and food on offer as well as toys that the children had either decorated or made.Organised entirely in-house, with just some support from the school community and a couple of external producers, the school Farmers' Market has already won a Green Suffolk award.  And it really is well-deserved.  This is something really special and here's why I love...

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Bloggers! Win tickets to the Olympic Games with Coca-Cola

Examples of Coca-Cola's colour-coded recycling bins designed for London 2012I hope all you bloggers with some waste-busting credentials out there have got your fingertips at the ready, because today's news is that I'm judging a fantastic competition that's promoted by Coca-Cola as part of its Olympic Games Sustainability Challenge and which is inviting YOU to talk about my favourite topic.REDUCING WASTE!And the prize on offer is an exciting package featuring two tickets to the Olympic Games for 4th August, as well as travel and accommodation, all of which are provided by Coca-Cola as as an Olympic...

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Cheering myself up with zero waste flower power

I've been feeling totally rubbish today, possibly overtired following the weekend's BritMums conference.  I've got a busy few days coming up, Mr C's at a long conference and to be honest, I'm feeling overwhelmingly disorganised and quite glum!After a morning of sweeping and mopping the floors like a charlady - no, we don't live in a huge house, it just takes my procrastination that long to get into the swing - and working my way through the emails and four cups of tea, my mood still hadn't lifted.There was nothing for it!I took to the garden with a scissors. Not even my pruning shears. ...

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