The Campaign Company Blog

Do the Green Thing!

This is worth checking out, a good example of using social networking and pretty simple software tools to affect behavior change.

You become a member of 'the green thing' which then gives you ideas for how to save carbon (such as taking the stairs not the lift). When you do these things you can then log them on the site and the calculate and track how much carbon you've saved, 0.5kg for taking the stairs for example.

Then the social factor comes into play, you can make friends with other people, compare and compete on how much carbon you've saved... watch little videos people have made about being green etc etc...

Basically adding some fun into doing the right thing...

I reckon this could be improved even more by linking it in to Nike/Ipod social networking site which tracks running... although I supposed running only counts as saving carbon if it replaces a journey by car, bus or train....

Do something good with your Xmas cards!

As the company that proudly devised the Recycling for Real method of consultation, we were pleased to read about the Woodland Trust's Christmas Card Recycling scheme launched last week by Anna Ryder Richardson (she of lovely houses and jungle fame).

The target this year is to collect 100 million cards, which will enable 24,000 trees to be planted and save 2,600 tonnes of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gases - the same as taking over 800 cars off the road for a year!

Special collection bins will be available throughout January at mainland WHSmith High street stores, Tesco stores, any TK Maxx stores and M&S stores.

So now that it's twelfth night and your decorations are down, get yourself down to one of those places now, do your bit and feel extremely good in the process!

A Bright Idea?

Just seen an advert for London's first Light Bulb Amnesty on January 11-13. where you can trade in up to two traditional light bulbs for two free energy efficient light bulbs.

It is being promoted by the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, who says that changing one light bulb can save up to 110kg of CO2. If every Londoner used energy efficient light bulbs, London could save 575,000 tonnes of CO2 and £139 million a year.

This "Amnesty" concept can be used to promote other environmental positives. Indeed TCC has worked with London Borough of Newham on environmental events where residents can trade a bag of recyclable rubbish for a bag of recycled goods.

We've heard of gun and knife amnesties and now we have a light bulb amnesty, but I am also sure that there are other potential "amnesties". They could for example promote healthy eating and smoking reduction where you can trade something unhealthy for something healthier. TCC is currently working on social marketing projects to promote specific behavioural goals for a social good. Amnesties could be one of the ideas amongst many that could be applied to promote positive social change.

Young People to lead on environmental change

A new report from the Sustainable Development Commission, Every Child’s Future Matters, calls for local authorities and young people to lead on environmental change, and calls for schools, youth services and community groups to empower young people to do this. TCC has recently been working with schools and youth groups in EC1 on recycling and climate change – aiming to empower children and young people to be recycling champions in their local areas. In East Sussex we have also been working with the County Council, young people, and the wider community on participatory budgeting projects which are seeing young people having a genuine say and making a positive impact on their local environment. The SDC report explores the influence of the environment as a whole - from road traffic to green spaces to climate change - on children and young people’s well-being, and provides evidence that the environment can deliver the Every Child Matters outcomes. Does anyone have any other examples of how local authorities and other bodies are working with young people on environmental change? Read the report here

Global Cool: How to buy your own public policy

Not new news, but new to me...

Global Cool the celebrity driven campaign to lower carbon emissions was launched at the begining of the year by a whole load of famous faces. The campaign will be running fund and awareness raising concerts alla 'Make poverty history'.

The campaign is collecting cash through donation and a large proportion of this money is used to buy carbon credits on the European emissions trading scheme, but with out then selling them. As we all know buy increasing demand in a market of restricted supply this will of course force prices up, that's the plan of Global Cool to make it more expensive for business to buy carbon credit and hence more economic to lessern emissions.

In terms of the discussion about participation this is pretty fascinating.

The European ETS is basically a public policy tool born of Kyoto. It's aim is to provide a market based incentive for lessening emissions. Of course having a open market as a part of your public policy creates a new avenue for influencing that policy. Global Cool is exploiting that avenue, by buying carbon credits they effectively making European emissions policy more strigent without having to go to the trouble of lobbying legislatures or anything as quaint as that.

But in a world where money already has a huge influence in the shaping of public policy is this a retrograde development, even if in this case it's for the better?

Environmental Tip of the Week

A few weeks ago the Australian government banned traditional light bulbs because they are so inefficient. It is not only the standard traditional bulbs that can be replaced by energy efficient versions…

There is a new technology available designed to supersede halogen spotlights – the sort you might have in your kitchen or bathroom. Instead of using a filament that gets hot, they contain a small fluorescent tube folded up. As a result they use around a quarter of the energy and last considerably longer. Some are even dimmable, simply by clicking the light switch in quick succession.

So, if you are having some new spotlights fitted, make sure you ask for GU10 compact fluorescent bulbs. For more info click here

Climate Change – what lies ahead for neighbourhoods?

The last NDC Network meeting on February 22-23 in Manchester gave an opportunity to discuss the new big thing on the NDCs’ agenda– climate change.

In one of the workshops, experiences were shared on how NDCs have been tackling environmental issues so far and what they are planning to do in the future. To give just some examples, Green Procurement Code should be introduced in building industry to promote use of environment-friendly materials. Urban planning should move towards ‘carless’ development (fewer parking lots), reducing road congestion and supporting car pool schemes. A range of ‘green’ service facilities such as restaurants, delicatessen and laundries needs to be developed – and some of them like Shoreditch’s new “green” restaurant Acorn House are already up and running.

Examples were multiple but the message dominating the discussion was the same: it is necessary to bring all NDCs together to successfully combat climate change. Only when it is possible to share best practice examples and resources across the entire Network and to Government, can real progress be made. The next step, it was firmly decided, is to produce NDC Climate Change shared strategy. It is good to see that NDCs are strong and ready to act towards reduction of climate change.

Global Cool

‘Global Cool’, a new 10 year environmental initiative was officially launched earlier this week. The idea of the campaign, says its founder Dan Morrell, is that:

‘Over the next 10 years the solutions-based campaign of Global Cool will be launching a series of educational and entertaining programmes, and inspirational and upbeat global events, aimed at empowering individuals to make a difference.’

The campaign is backed by a host of celebs who plan to ‘bring entertainment to the environment, put on shows and make programmes and send you playful texts and generally sing to you and tell you stories and tease you until you care.’ The website’s quite fun – particularly like the ‘CoolTube’ video section.

Environmental Tip of the Week

Did you know that dishwashers typically use a lot less water than washing-up by hand?
So using a dishwasher can be better for the environment, especially if you only run it fully loaded. http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/home/225 
http://www.appliancemagazine.com/zones/supplier/12_metal_fab/editorial.php?article=1292&zone=12&first=1 

pee before you fly

If you must fly, there is now some new advice for how you can minimise your environmental impact. As well as offsetting your carbon emissions, China Southern Airlines is encouraging passengers to use the toilet before they board. A single flush at 30,000 feet used a litre of fuel – that’s enough to run an economical car at least 10km. For more info click here

breathing earth

This site keeps it real by showing the CO2 emissions of every country in the world, as well as their birth and death rates, all in real time. Definite food for thought.

Waste more, pay more?

The BBC today reports that the body that represents Local Council's in England, the Local Government Association has launched a War on Waste campaign and its main policy plank is that householders who throw out large amounts of rubbish instead of recycling should be charged more

It also wants to reward those households which throw out less by cutting their council tax bills.

The BBC is conducting an online poll on whether some people should be charged more and as at the time of posting 58% thought they should, with 39.5% opposed.

Why not have your say on this issue?

Green Council's - The Top 10

Today's Guardian has the results of a survey it has conducted on the Top 10 Councils for Green Issues.

The broad themes that emerge from it are that leading Councils have been good at developing Green infrastructure in areas such as transport and energy as well as improving planning regulations.

What is interesting is that the article indicates a lot of positive action, but little on building local community sign up to tackling climate change.

If we are to build wide political consensus on the need for urgent action in this area, then community engagement is vital and local authorities are probably best placed to co-ordinate this.

If the top 10 Councils are still developing in this area, then clearly we still have a long way to go across the country as a whole!

Recycling's not just for Christmas...

...but most households are likely to generate more waste than usual over the festive season. This week's Environmental Tip of the Week is therefore all about planning now to eliminate waste, unwanted presents, and to recycle rubbish after Christmas. Go to www.growupgreen.org.uk for ideas about how to get started.

Cooling Down Period

Environmental Tip Of the Week: Radiators will give out heat for about 30 minutes after the boiler has switched off. So, if the last person in your home leaves at a regular time, set the heating to switch off 30 minutes before. Over the winter this could easily save you £50 of energy. The same principle might be able to be applied to your workplace.http://www.diynot.com/pages/in/in013.php http://www.ncdc.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=9610 

Local Councils crucial to fighting climate change

Climate Change Minister Ian Pearson said today that local authorities are at the forefront of the UK's efforts to cut carbon dioxide emissions. Stats on local and regional emissions for 2004 were released today, underlining the vital role of local authorities in fighting climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions, both in their own work and in the wider community.

The statistics showed that:
* Nationally, 44 per cent of emissions were attributed to 'industrial, commercial and public sector' sources, 29 per cent to the domestic sector and 28 per cent to road transport.
* In about a third of local authorities, the emissions from the domestic sector were higher than from the industrial, commercial and public sectors.
* About 48 per cent of domestic emissions are due to gas use, 41 per cent are due to electricity use, and 10 per cent are attributable to the use of other fuels.

He said that local authorities were increasingly taking up the challenge and that "Everyone has a role to play in fighting climate change and reducing emissions…Local authorities are connected to their local communities, and understand them well. As well as taking action to reduce emissions themselves, they have a vital role to play in challenging and informing their citizens.”

Sounds like a case from the Carbon Crime Stoppers to me!

Environmental Tip of the Week

Indoor plants are a natural air conditioner and can remove up to 87% of indoor pollution each day! Plants take in Carbon Dioxide as they grow, so help in a small way to reduce global warming. They also of course help you reconnect with nature, reminding you or the natural environment beyond your window ;-) Avoid plastic plants - they are evil!

Promising the Earth

World Environment Day 2006 took place back in July. In order to encourage people to make small promises such as turning off the tap when you brush your teeth or using a ‘bag for life’, the Environment Agency ran a series of road shows across the country. I encountered it in Brighton a few months ago, where I filled out my promise card and vowed to change my ways. Today I received an email from the EA allowing me to track the progress my promise has made so far. Check out the site here and make your own promises too! The site also tracks which towns are making the most promises and waste that has been saved since the start of the campaign, as well as the top organisations, top individuals and a 'battle of the sexes' to see whether the top promisers are male or female.

Maybe team Hannah can add this to the Carbon Crime-stopper goodie bag?

An apparently series (and ingenious) suggestion from Japan.

Eco-friendly bra doubles as shopping bag

Lingerie manufacturer Triumph International Japan has unveiled a new type of brassiere that can be converted into a shopping bag. Called the "No! Shopping Bag Bra" (NO! reji-bukuro bra), the environmentally-friendly lingerie is designed to promote the reduction of plastic bag consumption, a key objective of the revised Containers and Packaging Recycling Law hammered out by Japanese lawmakers in June.

Each year, Japanese shoppers receive an estimated 30 billion plastic shopping bags, which, in terms of the oil resources needed to produce them, amounts to two giant tankers full of oil (millions of barrels). About 30 per cent of these bags are thrown away without being reused, and since the consumption of plastic shopping bags contributes to environmental problems such as increased energy usage, trash buildup, and global warming due to CO2 released in the garbage incineration process, there are urgent calls to reduce their usage.

When the bra is being worn, the "shopping bag" portions are folded away inside the bra cups, where they serve as extra padding. The bra quickly converts to a shopping bag by removing the bag portions from the cups and connecting the hooks on the bra's underwire. The lace cups serve as decoration along with the shoulder straps, which are disconnected and tied to the top of the bag as ribbons.

The bra - available in red, blue, green, yellow and pink - is made from the Teijin Group's ECOPET brand of polyester fiber, which has been recycled from plastic bottles through the company's patented EcoCircle recycling system. Triumph International Japan has a long history of developing eco-themed bras, with such creations as the Recycle PET Bra (1997), Eco-globe Bra (2004) and Warm Biz Bra (2005).

better recycle your batteries

Environmental Tip of the Week: Battery Recycling

Sainsbury's is the first UK supermarket to offer battery recycling. Customers can now pick up freepost envelopes in-store and post their used batteries free of charge for recycling. Of the 25,000 tonnes (equivalent to 150 Jumbo jets!) of batteries used in the UK each year, only 1,000 tonnes are recycled at the moment. http://www.letsrecycle.com/materials/metals/news.jsp?story=6170

How many yoghurt pots does it take to make a unit door?

Environmental tip of the Week: Recycled Kitchens

You can even get recycled kitchens these days! If you’re thinking of a new kitchen at home or work check out what can be done with vending machine coffee cups and old yoghurt pots!

http://www.milestone.uk.net/eco/recycledkitchen.htm

The Economics of Climate Change

Sir Nick Stern, commissioned by the Chancellor to lead a major review of the economics of climate change, to understand more comprehensively the nature of the economic challenges and how they can be met, in the UK and globally , has now presented his findings.

The report provides:

• An assessment of the economics of moving to a low-carbon global economy, focusing on the medium to long-term perspective, and drawing implications for the timescales for action, and choice of policies and institutions.
• An assessment of the potential of different approaches for adaptation to changes in the climate.

The overall view of the Report is:

• If we don’t act, the overall costs and risks of climate change will be equivalent to losing at least 5% of global GDP each year, now and forever.
• If a wider range of risks and impacts is taken into account, the estimates of damage could rise to 20% of GDP or more.
• In contrast, the costs of action – reducing greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst impacts of climate change – can be limited to around 1% of global GDP each year.

It would appear that in the Report Sir Nick has demonstrated that it would cost much less to prevent runaway climate change than to seek to live with it and has also swayed the argument for drastic action – a large number of previous ‘deniers’ are now beginning to change their tune, and about time too. However, this is not the end of it, this report provides us with a starting point but there has to be immediate action based on its findings and that means ensuring business buys into the recommendations. However, it also means that we in richer western nations have to face up to the fact that our lifestyle will have to change.

To read and download Sir Nick’s report click on the link below:

http://www.sternreview.org.uk/

Britain's first green eco-suburb in Newham

We at The Campaign Company are very happy to see that our friends in Newham are about to embark on the construction of Britain's first carbon-free 'ecopolis'. The site, built over the remains of an old toxic east-end gasworks, marks the first in a long line of regeneration activities in this area built to reduce carbon emissions.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2425241,00.html

We are doubly happy because we are set over coming months to do some work for the borough in engagement activities around the environment and recycling. So it's really refreshing to see that Councils are willing to put their money where their mouths are in terms of climate change issues, especially when there's so much 2012 money going around and the pressure's on to put on a world class olympic games.

Anyone got any good ideas how we could use this news to practically contribute to our upcoming work?

Energy Saving Week

The Energy Saving Trust is running Energy Saving Week to help us all do our bit to reduce global warming...

Monday 23rd - Buy better day An Energy-saving fridge-freezer alone could knock £45 off your annual energy bill.

Tuesday 24th - Boil better day If everyone boiled only the water they needed to make a cup of tea instead of "filling" the kettle every time, we could save enough electricity in a year to run nearly half of all the street lighting in the country!

Wednesday 25th - Green wheels day If all commuters left the car at home one day a week this would save enough miles to drive to the moon and back 35,000 times.

Thursday 26th - Turn to 30 day Turn down the temperature on your washing machine. With modern powders, you'll still look as good at 30°C and you'll use around 40% less energy.

Friday 27th - Light savers day As the clocks go back, save energy by swapping your ordinary light bulbs for energy saving ones. Energy saving light bulbs last up to 12 times longer and can cut energy wastage by over three quarters.

Click here to find out more about how YOU can save money and the planet

craftivism.com

I told you knitting is for cool people these days! Set up by a graduate of Sociology whose MA focussed on knitting, DIY culture and community development, this site is based on the idea that ‘activism + craft = craftivism. That each time you participate in crafting you are making a difference, whether it's fighting against useless materialism or making items for charity or something betwixt and between’. It's about the not-so-radical notion that activists can be crafters, and crafters can be activists. The site also has a blog, ‘documenting the crafty life. Stitch by stitch by political stitch’.

Out and about in Sheffield

A report from one of our fieldworkers, pounding the streets of Sheffield to gather views on the local recycling centre...

Every other house has a sign saying that they do not open the door to salesmen, so it's lucky I’m not trying to sell anything. I arrive in Shirecliffe on a wet Thursday afternoon, without an umbrella, with the task of knocking on the hundred plus doors looming over me. The reception I get from the residents, however, is warm with most invited me in out of the rain for the minute or so it may take to answer my questions. Most people have opinions to share about the recycling centre I’m conducting the survey on and the more I keep quiet the more they talk. I have to stop some people who are offering me a lot of views as I have only three days to complete all my work, both on-site and in the surrounding streets.

On site at the Douglas Road Recycling Centre I take a break from questioning service users by the recycling skips as the rain descends once again. I conduct my traffic survey through the window of the workers hut with a cup of tea in my hand. Its usually quite quiet on a weekday they say, just wait until the weekend.

Friday is a brighter but windier day and as I start my rounds along Longley Avenue West and up Musgrave Road I find very few people in. I give each house twenty seconds of standing on the doorstep after knocking before I give up and try one of their neighbours. At the end of a terrace I’m told by the owner that the recycling centre must stay, again and again.

Some people have very little time for me, some want to discuss the issue in more depth. I, however, have an ulterior motive in speaking to all the residents - there’s a meeting planned to discuss the future of the recycling centre, which I hope they can all come to. Some are adamantly opposed to it, some wholeheartedly support it, and others aren’t sure where they stand. An old lady brings me a cup of tea, she doesn’t use the centre but it's where her son takes the hedge trimmings so she keen for it to stay.

Saturday comes with more people at home. I now know that a car in the driveway means there’s someone in who may be willing to talk to me. My knack proves correct and by three in the afternoon I’ve completed all my residents’ surveys. That now just leaves the survey of site users to complete.

The guys on site aren’t sure what to make of me. I’m working on behalf of the City Council but its obvious that I’m not from around here. They don’t mind what I’m doing and some of them are willing to tell me what they would like to see change to the recycling centre. The motorists are less than enthusiastic about answering my questions. ‘It’ll only take a minute’ is something that goes into the conversation quite early on.

Sunday comes and I’m exhausted. The bus takes almost an hour to arrive from outside the world famous Sheffield Crucible, ‘The Home of Snooker’, and where I was last night with an evening of stand-up for the “It’s grim up North” comedy festival. Luckily for me that I don’t have too many more surveys to complete and on a sunny Sunday morning the site users are very willing to talk to me. I complete my work at about two in the afternoon and head for my train back to London.

Environmental tip of the week - Calculate your tyre print

Carbon dioxide is one of the main culprits in global warming and climate change. http://www.ecoinsurance.co.uk/calc.php is a new website that allows you to calculate exactly how much carbon dioxide you generate through your car. All you need to know is the make, model and the number of miles you do annually. Understanding our individual impacts is a key part of taking action to reduce them.

Becoming carbon neutral-No easy answers........

Bottom line we are all going to have to change our behaviour in very real and sometimes painful ways-interesting set of articles on the limitations of carbon offset schemes -Is your carbon offset just hot air? and Can planting trees give you a clear carbon conscience?

Environmental Tip of the Week: Envirofone

Traditionally only larger charities have been able to make money through collecting old mobile phones for recycling. Now you can support any of the 183,000 charities in the UK by recycling your old mobile phone in partnership with the Charities Trust. For each phone traded with envirofone Envirofone you receive cash and £3.00 is donated to any UK Registered Charity.  See how it works here

Come Off It

November 4th is Come Off it Day - the brainchild of Dave Hampton, the self-styled Carbon Coach who invites us to 'flick the switch and commence generation of one of the world’s largest and most overlooked power sources – not Megawatts but Negawatts! Negawatts are created by harnessing people power or, more specifically, people's power of restraint.'

You can also watch the video, with Alistair McGowan extolling the merits of wearing warm jumpers and sounding off about patio heaters.

Environmental Tip of the Week - Toy libraries

The National Association of Toy & Leisure Libraries runs a national scheme called Play Matters, which loans good quality toys to families with young children. There are over 1,000 toy libraries throughout the UK, serving approximately 250,000 children. From an environmental perspective, it is often better to borrow than to buy. Click here for more info.

You can't scare people into getting fit or going green

New research published today by the Economic and Social Research Council shows that positive, informative strategies which help people set specific health and environmental goals are far more effective when it comes to encouraging behaviour change than negatives strategies which employ messages of fear, guilt or regret. Click here for more info on the report.

Environmental Tip of the Week

Every year hundreds of thousands of trees are pulped to create the greetings cards we send. Posting cards also contributes to the use of fossil fuels by delivery vehicles. By sending electronic greeting cards you can help reduce your environmental impact 

http://www.foe.co.uk/cards/ is free, fast and you can send as many as you want.

Stadium Recycling

A good idea from America. Designed to increase recycling at sports stadia. If only one of the big clubs over here would do something so proactive.

http://www.chargers.com/news/press-releases/press-release-2006091540185.php

If anyone knows of any clubs doing anything like this - let us know.

It's not just rubbish!

Me blogging about recycling is not something people who know me would expect because unlike most of my colleagues I just can't get excited by it. However, the "Best Practice" article in this week's Local Government Chronicle did just that. The gist of it was that instead of just putting waste in the ground, your rubbish can become a valuable resource. What excited and reassured me about this article was that the 5 good practice tips from the leading local authorities in this area, were techniques we're actually using in our recycling projects in EC1 and elsewhere.

Basically the top tips are as follows:

• Don't make a meal out of collecting food waste (ie use compost-makers rather than feed kitchen waste to pigs. Preston now have 7500 households who have joined a pilot to compost food waste)
• Talk to residents about collecting from flats (ie provide solutions in council property that are practical for residents; Rushcliffe has raised its recycling rate from 9% to 49% in three years by doing this)
• Use recycling and refurbishment for community training (we've done this in our Recycling for Real awareness raising exercises and it's also been done in schools)
• Get residents to sort their waste out properly (Sutton has saved £417,000 by getting people to separate their rubbish)
• Recruit recycling champions (a technique that we have seen work effectively first hand)

So I am gradually being convinced - it's not just rubbish!

Incentives for recycling

I know that I have blogged before on this subject but I went to a conference yesterday held by the Resource Recovery Forum - an international non-profit network of more than 320 organisations interested in sustainable waste management - making better use of waste that is produced

http://www.resourcesnotwaste.org/

This conference concentrated on the recent pilot scheme funded by DEFRA where local authorities received funding to introduce incentive schemes to improve recycling rates.

There were some very interesting presentations – follow the link below to see them:

http://www.resourcesnotwaste.org/members/INCENTIVESconf-application-form/conference.html 

My thoughts, which I think were shared by the delegates and the authorities presenting, were that incentives very often end up rewarding those that recycle already. Many of the schemes saw an increase at the start of the scheme (sometimes fairly significantly) but over time the participation levels fell back to the same levels recorded prior to the schemes being introduced (and in some cases lower than that previously recorded).

There was however an argument that suggests that the volume of materials recycled increased during the schemes but it was evident that this was (mainly) attributable to those already recycling.

I left the conference with a feeling that the way forward has to include an element of charging householders for the residual waste that they dispose of – pay as you throw (love the name). This would see Council’s levying a charge for the amount of residual waste disposed of - over a certain weight. This would ‘incentivise’ households to recycle more – also, as per my previous post I think we need more home composting, but also councils’ need to increase their green waste service before charging would work.

Let us know what you think.

EC1

Our big waste and recycling project in EC1 has now kicked off. This project will see four pilot schemes established that will reduce waste in social housing by increasing the take up of recycling and composting.

The four pilot schemes are centred around 5 different blocks of flats in the EC1 New Deal area. They are:

Wenlake Estate

A scheme to adapt the existing waste ‘chute’ in the block so that residents’ recycling is also sent down to the bin room. The scheme will allow residents in the blocks to choose the path to send their waste – 1 path for residual waste, 1 path for recycling – by simply pushing a button on a keypad at the chute entrance.

Lagonier House

A further chute modification scheme. This block has two dedicated chutes for waste. The plan here is to adapt one through its appearance at the entrance, to take recycling only.

Epworth Street

Residents in this block will be provided with orange recycling sacks for their recycling needs. A kind of kerbside collection scheme for blocks – the cleaner will be responsible for making sure that the recycling bags are collected and put in the bin rooms before collection.

Braithwaite/Quaker

These two blocks will be provided with their very own community composter. This will be operated by a dedicated local resident who will be employed by the NDC specifically to run this scheme. All residents in the blocks will be provided with a kitchen caddy for their organic waste which will be collected and composted on site.

This is a very exciting project with one or two challenges but we think it will prove to be a huge success. There are other elements to the project too such as recruitment and training of local recycling champions and a great deal of work with schools to identify young champions.

Watch this space for regular updates and if anyone has any good ideas on anything happening in EC1 please share them with us.

Packaging

A worthy effort by Sainsbury’s but much more needs to be done and the other ‘big boys’ need to follow suit

Packaging is a major issue when it comes to reducing residual household waste and this is a step in the right direction. As Sainsbury’s say the government really needs to push the concept of home composting to ensure that waste streams are kept at minimum levels.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5326138.stm

who deserves a pat on the back?

The LGC awards are looking to give national recognition to local initiatives that have really made a difference.

Categories cover things such as community engagement and innovation.

Deadline is 11 October 2006 and you can find out more here.

Minimising junkmail - but keep schtum if you're a postie

Did you know that if you don't want to receive the direct unaddressed mailings and fliers that comes through your post box, all you need to do is contact your local sorting office and request an opt-out form, and then complete and return. This nugget of information has recently attracted media coverage because a postman has been suspended for telling people about it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5294708.stm

Remember when August was a quiet month...

Time was, that August was the opportunity to sit back and relax, and think about the previous months' hard work and autumn's challenges.

No longer!  This week sees TCC undertaking a major consultation exercise in Cumbria, working in London with the Department of Work and Pensions, Ministers and a collection of young people from all over the UK developing strategies for combatting child poverty and undertaking focus groups for the Bakers' Union in Guisborough and laying the foundations for a Democracy Wall in North Yorkshire.

Look out for regular updates on all of these in the blog!

green gyms

I don't do gym, but green gyms sound more fun. There are Green Gyms, run by the British Trusts for Conservation Volunteers, throughout the UK. Joining a local Green Gym involves a programme of regular outdoor work, such as cutting down shrubs, clearing paths and repairing walls and fences. And 'not only does this work help the local environment, it also helps improve the participants' physical and mental wellbeing.' I'll watch this space for one to spring up in Croydon - who'll join me?! http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/page.cfm?pagecode=IZTSGG