Brilliance in Blogging Awards: Please vote for this waste-busting blogger.

I've just discovered the wonderful news that The Rubbish Diet has been shortlisted for the Brilliance in Blogging awards, which will be hosted by the BritMums Live event in June.I'd firstly like to thank all the kind folk who nominated my blog. The news was a fabulous surprise, especially as over the last two months I've had my head firmly buried in other people's virtual bins.Apparently there were over 12,000 nominations registered across many blogs, so I feel especially honoured to have made it to the top 20 blogs listed in the category of CHANGE.The public vote has already commenced, and if...

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Monday Meeting: The final weigh-in for the Rubbish Diet Challenge 2012

Welcome to the last Monday Meeting for the Rubbish Diet Challenge 2012.Last November I put a request on Twitter and Facebook to see if anyone fancied slimming their bins in 2012.  Amazingly eight people volunteered straight-away and at the end of January, when routines had settled back to normal after the festivities of Christmas, the Rubbish Diet Challenge began, featuring weekly Monday weigh-ins and mini-challenges throughout the course of eight weeks.Eight households slimming their bins in just eight weeks, all living in different parts of the country, including one in the US, all with...

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It's reached Hong Kong: Tracking my mobile phone with O2Recycle.

Back in January, I did something I'd never done before.  I recycled my old battered mobile phone, working with O2Recycle to track it through their system. Now, my phone was in a pretty poor condition when it left the UK.  The screen was scratched, the casing was broken and it needed a rubber band to stop the battery falling out.  And there was also the issue of it randomly rebooting itself.   Yet, after assessment, I still received £24 for it, which illustrates how valuable these devices are.But I wasn't just interested in the cash, I was also interested in how the mobile...

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Slimming your waste at work: a Suffolk case-study

Regular visitors to this blog will be familiar with my passion for slimming down our rubbish at home, but I am also a sticky-beak when it comes to finding out what goes on behind closed doors in organisations across the country.Inspired by my recent Smart Mums visit to British Gas, where I managed only a passing glimpse of their internal recycling activities, I was keen to find a smaller company closer to home that would allow me to have a poke about their own waste management facilities.  I really don't think I could have found a finer example of corporate recycling.Music Sales is an international...

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BritMums, Smarter Living & British Gas

Dana, from British Gas Smart Homes, demonstrating the Smart Meter handsets.During the last couple of months I have been working with British Gas and BritMums as a Smart Mums ambassador, discussing ways to save energy in the home.  A couple of weeks ago, I was privileged to visit the British Gas Headquarters in Staines, for a behind-the-scenes peek at some of the products that are already appearing in homes across the UK.Moving forward from its traditional business as an energy provider, which historically has been dependent on creating energy from fossil fuels, British Gas is now also focusing...

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A much needed Food Waste Bill

Kerry McCarthy MP, pictured 3rd from right, with parliamentary supporters, including Caroline Lucas MP and Zac Goldsmith MP.Yesterday I had the honour of being invited to Westminster, to meet Kerry McCarthy MP and to hear more about the Food Waste Bill, which she is presenting to the House of Commons today.In a nutshell, the Bill would significantly reduce the obscene amount of food wasted by supermarkets and manufacturers by increasing the donation of good food to charities for managed redistribution to those who are living in food poverty in the UK.Voluntary food distribution does exist in the...

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Madam, would you like a dash of rubbish with that? No thanks!

Thankfully, when eating out, I don't get asked that question.  It would put me right off my food.However, if you take responsibility for your waste footprint, you really have to have your wits about you, to know that the drink you're consuming isn't going to result in the bottle ending up in landfill, along with any excess plate waste going to the dump.Over the last few years, I've become increasingly aware of the sustainability practices of my favourite eateries and yes I confess that I am much happier to frequent those that take this subject seriously, much more than those that don't, even...

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Monday Meeting: The Rubbish Diet Challenge Wk 8, The finale

OK, down with the trumpet fanfare. It's too soon for that, but what a fine start to Week 8 of The Rubbish Diet challenge, with reports already coming in from some of our fabulous bin slimmers about how little rubbish has been created last week. Terry-Anna's rubbish bag is so small, it's dumpier than a HP sauce bottle and you can fit it into the palm of your hand.  As for Tim's rubbish, there's much excitement that for the first time throughout the challenge, it's possible to see the bottom of his bin.This is indeed the last week of the challenge, the finale week that comes with an extra mission,...

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The Rubbish Diet, Wk 7: Saturday catchup. Composting, radio & packaging protest

"Gee, I never guessed it would be as big as that!" were the words utttered by Rubbish Dieter Ness, as she collected her compost bin this week and tried to squeeze it into the boot of her car.I did my best to reassure her that when placed in situ, it really would look considerably smaller.Ness has never composted before, but since the start of her Rubbish Diet, she's been keen to give it a go and on hearing this news, Suffolk County Council were delighted to support the project by providing one of the 'dalek' style bins, similar to the ones I've been using for years. Earlier this week, we went...

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Climate Week: 12-18 March and my Twitter interview #CWCuisine

 Climate Week on TwitterNext week is Climate Week, Britain's biggest climate change campaign, which is raising awareness of the small changes we can make in working towards a more sustainable future.  I'm proud that Week 8, the finale week of The Rubbish Diet challenge will be running alongside it.Reducing waste is a key step to living more sustainably, bringing benefits from energy saved through recycling as well as preventing embedded resources being wasted across the whole of the production and supply chain.  That especially applies to food and this will be something close to...

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Monday Meeting: The Rubbish Diet Challenge Wk 7

Well, here we are, the penultimate week of The Rubbish Diet Challenge.Over the last six weeks, our bin-slimming volunteers have got to grips with local recycling, looked for ways of avoiding waste whilst out shopping and have focused on habits and areas around the home where certain rubbish can now be banished for good. And this is the last week before they are ready do tackle their zero waste challenge.This week's focus is on decluttering and getting prepared for those risky moments when in the midst of a clear-out, impatience can easily take over and stuff ends up in the rubbish bin.  But...

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The Rubbish Diet. - Saturday catchup - pondering communications

I've spent much of this week thinking about recycling communications. In theory it should be a simple process, but in reality it can be filled with great complexities as well as unintentional ambiguity.Take our latest council leaflet for instance.  I was delighted to discover a copy in my youngest son's book bag, which had been distributed through his primary school.  Not only was this a great way of reaching local families, but it's the first time I've seen a visual representation of what can go in our kerbside recycling bin.Personally, I think this is a much better method of communication,...

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