UK - Furoshiki Present Wrapping

Furoshiki gift wrapping from RecycleNow on Vimeo

Furoshiki is a fun and creative style of gift wrapping using a large piece of cloth to create elegant looking presents. The good news is, when the present is unwrapped there’s nothing to be thrown away!

UK: Christmas is being reused

Millions of Britons are reversing the old adage “waste not, want not” this festive season. Unwanted gifts from Christmases past won’t be wasted – they will be reused as this year’s presents.

A new survey from CreditExpert, reveals that no less than 18 million adults say they are going to pass on items given to them last Christmas or birthday – or even earlier – to help make ends meet at a difficult time for personal finances.

Anything from DVDs and CDs to perfume, toiletries, board games and traditional socks and hankies will be forwarded to unsuspecting friends and relatives by 39% of the UK’s adults – up by 16% on last year’s figure.

The Welsh and the Northern Irish, at 48-46% of adults respectively, are leading the move to reuse presents but even in the South East – the least likely to give away what has already been given – a third are going to join in.

There is a strong gender divide when it comes to recycled presents, with 46% of women saying that they will rewrap gifts and pass them on, against 33% of men.

Reusing is being seen as a good option in bad financial times, with 45% admitting that they are concerned about how much extra Christmas will affect their finances. No less than 57% in Northern Ireland share this worry, with even 39%in the West Midlands – the least worried region – also expressing anxiety. Among age groups, young 18 to 24-year-olds are the most worried (55%) and empty nester 55 to 64-year-olds the least (30%).

Source: CreditExpert

Technorati Tags: Reuse waste minimisation waste prevention credit crunch

North London - Waste Prevention Weeks

The North London Waste Authority (NLWA) has taken part in the pilot edition of a Europe-wide campaign that aims to promote waste minimisation. Letsrecycle.com reports that the authority was the sole UK participant in the 'pilot edition' of the European Waste Reduction Week, which was held from November 20-30, and also involved councils from Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Italy and France.

Ruth Westcott from Waste Watch with resident Anna-Marie O'Donnell making a pledge as part of the NLWA's food waste minimisation initiative As part of the week, the NLWA ran a series of 'Love Food Hate Waste' roadshows across its seven member boroughs in an attempt to get local residents to sign up to pledge to reduce their food waste. The authority said that "hundreds" of residents took part in the pledge, while visitors to the roadshows were also offered advice on cutting food waste and given reusable bags.

The chair of the NLWA, councillor Clyde Loakes, said: "These roadshows were a brilliant way of giving residents the information they need to reduce the amount of food they throw away and we were delighted to see so many people taking pledges to reduce their food waste."

The authority has also revealed that an earlier waste minimisation initiative, 'Watch Your Waste Week', which was held between October 4 and 12, saw over 1,000 residents, schools and businesses reduce their waste by up to 50%. As part of its waste reduction efforts, the week also saw 1,908 people signing up to the mailing preference service and 6,806 more becoming members of online used item trading network Freecycle. PilotNorth London took part in the pilot of the European Waste Reduction Week as a member of the international Association for Cities and Regions for Recycling and Sustainable Waste Management (ACR+).

The body has nearly 100 members, including local authorities and umbrella organisations representing councils, and the week is part of the ACR+ 'European Campaign for Waste Reduction', which was launched last year with the aim of reducing municipal waste by 100 kilograms per person, per year. The initiative also mirrors the emphasis on waste minimisation and prevention within waste hierarchy which is part of the recently published revised EU Waste Framework Directive (see letsrecycle.com story). And, two of the three waste performance indicators that English councils can choose from reward success in waste reduction.

Technorati Tags: NLWA waste minimisation waste prevention North London Watch your waste week ACR+ Food Waste European Waste Reduction Week