10 Zero Waste garden tips

When thinking about a Zero Waste lifestyle, we often consider what we do inside our homes but we should also consider our outdoor space, and what we can do in our garden to reduce or eliminate waste too. Below we have compiled a list of tips for cultivating a Zero Waste green space you and your family can enjoy for a lifetime.

Make compost

Save money, reduce packaging waste, eliminate your food waste at home, and know exactly what you’re putting on your garden and into the environment by making your own compost. Don’t know where to start? Our handy Guide to Composting will explain all. Continue reading 10 Zero Waste garden tips

Paper: how to reuse it

With so much talk of the negative impacts of plastic on the environment these days, it’s easy to forget about paper; another product the world produces and wastes far too much of. Of course, paper is readily and easily recycled in the UK these days, but recycling should be the last option in every household, as it uses energy which otherwise wouldn’t be required. In this article I hope to inspire you with ideas for paper reuse, and get you to think about every piece of paper or card that enters your house. If you’d like some ideas for reducing your paper waste, so you have less to reuse, this article should help.

So, how can I reuse paper or card?

There are so many options available to you before you fling your paper straight in to your recycling bin. Give one a go today!

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Win a Zero Waste lunch kit with Forge Recycling

This competition is now closed. The winner was Julie Parkinson of West Yorkshire. Thank you to all who entered.

Lunch can be a tough thing to turn ‘zero waste’ – especially if you work – as it often means grabbing something quick from a local shop, which will inevitably involve a mass of ‘single-use’ plastic packaging, which is destined for the bin.

A great solution to this problem is to pack your own lunch at home, however even that can end up producing a lot of waste – think sandwich bags, napkins, foil, and cling film. What you really need is a set of reusable lunch storage items, which you can then use over and over again, safe in the knowledge that you are being eco-friendly, as well as saving yourself money.

Win a Zero Waste lunch kit!

Here at Forge Recycling we have a fantastic lunch kit to give away, which will not only help you achieve a zero waste lunch, but is also made from non-plastic materials, so there will be no toxins leeching into your food or drink either! This brilliant kit consists of a stainless steel two-tier lunchbox, which contains a small extra container, a glass water bottle, and a bamboo spork. This fabulous prize is worth £50.

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7 Zero Waste gift ideas for Father’s Day

Father’s Day – just like Christmas, Birthdays, and many other annual celebrations – can be an occasion of excesses, where the issue of waste easily gets forgotten by most. But this need not be the case. This year, why not treat your Dad whilst also treating the environment, by not creating any waste? It’s a lot easier than you’d think. Take a look at our seven ideas below for inspiration. What would your Dad like most on Father’s Day? The chance to spend some quality time with his child or children is probably high on the list.

Take Dad to a festival

As Father’s Day falls in June, there will no doubt be a selection of summer festivals on in your local area. Festivals are increasingly popular, and now, aside from the classic music festival, there are festivals for food, beer, cider, wine, gin, specialist diets, film, board games, sports, and much more. There’s bound to be one your Dad would love.

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Bradford: Healing wounds with recycled eggshells

Researchers based at Bradford Royal Infirmary are currently developing a wound dressing which utilises the thin, fibrous membrane found inside hen’s eggshells.

The researchers are from NIHR WoundTec HTC at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), and are working in unison with a Norwegian company, Biovotecat, at the BRI site.

What are the benefits?

This groundbreaking research could be set to save the NHS millions of pounds, as wound management currently costs the NHS an eye-watering £5 billion per year. With 2.2 million wounds to tend per year, it is clear to see that the current cost of wound management is high. So, the eggshells cost less to buy than traditional wound dressings, but also the healing and anti-inflammatory properties of the eggshell membranes mean that wounds will heal faster and so treatment time will be significantly shorter too.

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10 reuse ideas for eggshells

Eggs are a popular food worldwide, but we only eat the inside part. So, that leaves the outer shell for us to deal with. In the past – or maybe even now, still – you’ll have just thrown it into the trash without a second thought. However, there are much better things you could be doing with them, which are far friendlier for the Earth than adding to our landfill. Take a look at our ideas below for some ‘eggspiration’!

Use in compost & organic gardening

Eggshells can be composted, so there’s no excuse to ever throw your discarded shells into the rubbish bin! They can also be used alone, crushed, in organic gardening as a slug and snail repellent. Whilst keeping pests at bay, the broken shell will also be adding nutrients to your soil, unlike nasty, unnatural chemical slug pellets.

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How to replace your household disposables

You may not even realise it, but the chances are your home is full of disposable items that you use (and bin) on a daily basis. These things add up quickly, and create a huge impact on landfill, when they could be avoided altogether. So, what are these items, and how can you live without them? We have done the research for you, so have a read and see what changes you could make in your household.

Kitchen paper

Image credit: master1305

Also known as kitchen roll or kitchen towel, this ‘throwaway’ stuff is used in abundance in most households in the UK. According to research, households worldwide get through 6.5 million tonnes of kitchen paper annually. Whilst some will be composted or recycled, the majority will end up on landfill.

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Want a new bike or car? Check the British waterways!

It has been estimated that by the year 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans. Whilst this may sound shocking to some, I imagine it is not a big surprise to the Canal and River Trust team who have been rolling out their huge restoration and repairs programme (worth £45m) recently, which has involved a four month long survey of litter. Even when not running this programme, the Trust spend an average of £1m per year on removing rubbish from British waterways; money which could, of course, be much better spent.

What has been found in our waterways?

Alongside the usual litter offenders, such as plastic packaging, bottles, cigarette butts, and plastic shopping bags, the Canal and River Trust have pulled the following items out of our waterways in recent years:

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8 ways to save bananas from the bin

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.

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Ditch the packaging & try coconut oil

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.

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