London, Hackney - Real Nappy Video

Here a video from the Hackney Real Nappy Network produced by Currentn UK Limited



More about Hackney Real Nappy Network here

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Canada - Compost action due to waste collection strike

We are into the end of the first week of the garbage strike in Vancouver and instead of the standard photo of smelly garbage mounting up and rats breeding, we have...people composting! It's a fact; all of the big hardware stores in town have almost sold out of composters. Amidst warnings that the strike could go on for weeks, City officials are encouraging residents to step up their recycling efforts and people seem to be getting the message. Since about half of household garbage is organic material, much of it can be composted in a backyard composter. For those in apartment buildings, of which there are many in Vancouver, things could be a bit more difficult. However condominium dwellers are being urged to get into the habit of rinsing out recycleable tins and jars as a start.


Tips issued by the City for ways to reduce garbage during the strike are an environmentalist's dream: separating wet garbage, crushing cans,adding grass clippings to the compost, letting grass grow longer, and put fruit and vegetable waste in the compost. Whilst no one wants to see a long and destructive strike, necessity is the mother of invention and this labour dispute may inspire more people to think about garbage and take some small steps towards reducing it on a long term basis

From Treehugger

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Scotland -The RoWAN Waste-Free Households

The RoWAN Waste-Free Households Project worked with 100 volunteer households who aimed to become as close to waste-free as possible. Over a 12-month period (March 2003 – March 2004). A structured volunteer support programme was put in place which was backed up by strong ongoing two-way communication between the project officer and each household. Support was informative, practical and motivating, and helped the households achieve:

• a reduction in the amount of waste sent to landfill by 58% (see graph);
• a reduction in total waste arisings by 22%;
• an increase in their recycling rate to 49%;
• an increase in their composting rate to 77% of all organic waste.

How much did people landfill each week?
(average per household)

The volunteer support programme consisted of:

• Waste guide – A-Z information on reduce, reuse and recycle in Ross-shire;
• Newsletter – regular bulletins on topical information and feedback on progress
to date;
• Subject-specific leaflets – e.g. on storage, reduction, materials;
• Project officer advice – available over the phone, in the office, by email, etc;
• Information feedback – on achievements to date – can be given for individual
household and also for the refuse collection vehicle (RCV) route as a whole;
• Incentives – e.g. competitions, certificates, targets, tokens.

The end of project Final Report and Best Practice Guide (which gives full details of the
methodology used for the project) are available by emailing
project.manager@rowanweb.org.uk

More from roWAN

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