The Big Scoop campaign has kicked off this week; organised by Dog’s Trust and Keep Britain Tidy, this campaign aims to highlight how easy it is to scoop your dog’s poop, and appeals to dog owners to do just that. The Big Scoop will support local councils, and educate dog owners. A survey conducted recently in Cardiff showed that the general public dislike dog mess more than general litter or people smoking in public, making dog poo the nation’s biggest bugbear.
The UK is home to over 8 million canines, who produce over 1000 tonnes of waste between them every day – that weighs as much as 200 double-decker buses! Of course, this wouldn’t be a problem if all of the mess was scooped up, but this is sadly far from the truth.
Alex Jackson, who is Head of Campaigns at Dogs Trust, says:
“Dog poo is still one of the biggest complaints received by local councils every year, with 81,000 complaints received from members of the public last year alone, so it’s important that everyone is aware of how simple disposing of dog mess can be.”
Owners who don’t scoop their dog’s poop are breaking the law, and face an £80 fine if caught. The problem is ‘if caught’; many irresponsible dog owners who don’t scoop, commit the act when nobody is about, or by cover of darkness, knowing they will get away with it.
But why do we dislike dog poo so much? And why should we clear it up straight away from our streets, paths, and parks? We explore the reasons below.
Food waste is a huge problem in the UK. We throw away around 7 million tonnes of food and drink from our homes every single year, and over half of that could have been consumed – if not by ourselves, then by someone else. Not only is this extremely wasteful, it is costing the average family with kids around £60 per month, and if you’re throwing your food waste in your general waste bin, it’ll be heading straight to landfill. Food waste is terrible for the environment and our pockets.
So, how do we tackle this food waste culture? In April this year, the first community fridge was set up in the UK – in Frome, Somerset. After just three months, over 1000 food items had been shared through the use of the fridge, and therefore saved from the bin and landfill. Local restaurants and cafes have been using it too. Whilst food banks handle non-perishables, a fridge means fresh goods are able to be shared also, which covers a much broader selection of consumables, and deals with items that can’t be donated anywhere else. And unlike food banks, the contents of the fridge are accessible to anyone and everyone.
As time goes on, there is increasing chatter about, and hope placed upon, biodegradable plastics. In theory, they sound like a good idea on comparison to ‘regular’ plastics; a strong material which is used for its purpose, and then naturally breaks down over time, leaving no trace – or so we assume. These newer plastics aren’t quite the angelic material they claim to be though, as you’ll discover in this article.
What are Biodegradable Plastics?
Biodegradable plastics are the supposedly more eco-friendly versions of regular plastics, which are celebrated for the speed in which they are able to biodegrade. However, depending on what they are made from, these plastics require specific environmental factors to trigger the degradation process – for example: a heat of 50C, plenty of oxygen, or exposure to water.
In the UK we are a nation of banana lovers – in fact, bananas are our most-loved fruit, but sadly they are also our most wasted food, as the majority of us enjoy eating our bananas before they have fully ripened. So, what do we do with all our overripe bananas? Sadly, many end up in the bin, and then in landfill. There’s no need for this to happen to any banana though; there are so many things you can do with a black spotted banana. We have collected eight ideas below for you. Don’t chuck ’em – use ’em!
You could make…
Ice cream
Peel your bananas and chuck them in the freezer in a reusable, freezer-safe container. Once they are frozen, remove them from the freezer and blend in a food processor to create a dessert which has an uncanny resemblance to ice cream, and isn’t overly banana-like in flavour either. Add other foods in at the blending stage to change up the flavour, such as peanut butter, cinnamon, or strawberries.
You may have heard talk of coconut oil, and wondered what all the fuss was about. After all, for many years we were told that all fats are bad. Now, it has come to light that this is not the case, and saturated fats, which were always frowned upon in the past, aren’t the artery-cloggers they were once portrayed to be. In fact, our body needs ‘good fats’, which is what coconut oil is; it is packed full of healthy fatty acids too, including Lauric Acid (which also exists in breast milk!)
So, what are the benefits of using coconut oil?
It has been discovered that coconut oil offers many health benefits for the human body, including antibacterial, antimicrobial, and antifungal properties. So, whilst ingesting it is good for you, so is applying it to your skin. The best part about it all? Buying one product in bulk to perform all of the tasks below means you are cutting down on your waste output significantly! Imagine how many bottles and containers you are cutting out if you just use a large jar of coconut oil for all of the below. Coconut oil is, therefore, a great choice if you’re wanting to move towards a zero waste lifestyle. Let’s take a look at how you can use it.
You might be surprised to learn that the bathroom produces a lot of waste, but it really does: shampoo bottles, conditioner bottles, shower gel bottles, hand-wash bottles, soap packaging, disposable razors, facial wipes, bathroom cleaner bottles, toilet roll inner tubes… you get the idea. In fact, most of our bathroom waste can be recycled, but research suggests most of us don’t even think about recycling when it comes to the bathroom. However, why not go one better than that and cut down on the waste so it doesn’t exist in the first place? The planet will thank you! It’s just about breaking habits.
We have collected some handy hints together for creating a low waste or zero waste bathroom. Even if you make one change towards zero waste, it is better than nothing. What will you try changing? Continue reading Top tips for a zero waste bathroom
It’s a little known fact that us Brits wear just 70 per cent of the clothes that we have stored away in our wardrobes, which leaves us with a total of 1.7 billion unused items. On average, a consumer keeps their garments for three years, but even more shocking than this is the fact that something might be frequently worn in the first year, and then phased into the stockpile of unworn clothes later on. That is why the average British closet is so overstuffed: we don’t wear all of the clothes we own.
The spending habits of the average person in the West have changed dramatically over the last hundred or so years when it comes to buying clothing. Between 2002 and 2003, for example, people in the US spent, on average, four per cent of their income on clothes, whereas back between the years of 1934 and 1946, clothing used up 12 per cent of people’s incomes. The current average expenditure per item in the USA is $14.60. Don’t go thinking that we are all consuming less though. On average, just one person in the UK will produce 70 Kg of textiles waste per year – that is a lot of clothing. Cheap, fast fashion means we are spending less yet buying more.
Due to the devastating flooding that has blighted Leeds and other parts of the country, Forge Waste & Recycling has placed a large skip on the corner of Kirkstall and Haddon Road – just outside Café Enzo.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… in fact, many of us now have our Christmas trees up in our homes and workplaces. Each year, 6-8 million of us in the UK purchase a ‘real’ Christmas tree, as opposed to an artificial one. So, what do we do with these trees that we have brought into our homes, once Christmas is over? I often see them abandoned in public in January – fly tipped due to a lack of knowledge, or perhaps just pure laziness and apathy. Yet there are so many options for what you can do.
Here are some ideas for what to do with your Christmas tree after the festive period:
Use a rosemary bush instead
Image credit: Pixabay
Some people have started using festively pruned rosemary bushes instead of pine trees, as they are far more sustainable, and can be moved around in their pot without you having to chop them down like a traditional tree. But, if you still fancy a pine tree, read on for plenty of ideas… Continue reading How to Recycle your Christmas Tree
Research suggests that women are generally ‘greener’ than men. If we look at it at a base level, a French study shows that women emit 32.3 kilograms of carbon a day, compared to men emitting 39.3 kilograms. This difference is due to apparent gender variations in: green attitudes, purchase behaviour, susceptibility to green advertising, transport choices, food choices, and driving habits.
However, whilst women are ahead in many ways when it comes to being environmentally aware and friendly, the majority of people – women included – on our planet are not doing enough to stop, or even slow, the harm being done to the Earth.
This is a small guide for women on how to live in an environmentally friendly way, using ideas you might not have considered before. Most of these tips are relevant to men too, so why not have a read!
Cosmetics, Make-up & Toiletries
Image credit: Pixabay
Cosmetics and make-up, alongside toiletries such as shower gel, are often packaged in plastic. Most of these are recyclable, but here are some points to think about if you wish to cut your impact on the environment:
Could you purchase items in bulk, therefore using less packaging?
If you must use your usual brands and products, could you reuse that bottle or pot for something else?
If you really must dispose of your packaging, always recycle everything you can. Remember: a small plastic bottle can take 450-1000 years to degrade in landfill, and research suggests that is where most plastic bottles (around 90%) end up.
When it comes to items for removing make-up and cleaning your face, opt for reusables such as flannels and crochet pads, as opposed to disposable and unrecyclable facial wipes.
Nail polish is sold in glass bottles, with plastic lids. Perhaps you could use your empty bottle to create your own nail varnish colour.
Feminine hygiene products
It is no secret that women menstruate, and in doing so we get through a shocking amount of disposable sanitary towels and tampons during our time on Earth. These items are bad for our health; most aren’t made from cotton, and contain plastic chemicals, and those that are made from cotton have been bleached. Cotton crops are also often sprayed with a variety of chemicals, so even the cotton itself is not clean. Now think about where you wear these items! Tampons, too, carry a heightened risk of you developing TSS (Toxic Shock Syndrome).
Not only are these sanitary items bad for your health, but they are bad for the environment too. The majority end up in landfill, and when you consider how many are used by every woman, that is a lot of waste to landfill. The average woman uses over 16,000 disposable sanitary items during her lifetime.
Clothes
Image credit: Pixabay
If you are needing some new clothes, it is so easy to buy clothes from shops which don’t consider the environment in their clothing production. This process involves energy consumption, the use of toxic chemicals, the use of land and natural resources, and the use of water.
Instead of buying new clothes from places that don’t consider the environment, you could:
Upcycle items you already own
Make your own clothes
Organise a clothes swap party, or attend one
Buy second hand, from a charity shop or similar
Buy new clothes from an eco-friendly shop, such as People Tree
Don’t forget to wash your clothes on as low a temperature as possible and hang your clothes up to dry rather than using a tumble dryer. Also consider which laundry detergent you use.
