Recycle for Cornwall....sounds familiar!

If you are not aware, there is a critical public vote currently doing the rounds.
Essentially it's a simple either or and it relates to the way that Cornwall handles the waste coming out of your home.  The challenge for us as householders is how much do we think about the bigger picture, and how much do we retrench in to our own little world and choose what seems best for us...or what's least hassle.


Option A:  You can have your black bag waste picked up weekly...just like you do now....and in addition, your kitchen waste will be separately collected...and every fortnight the council will also pick up your recycling...so not much change on the black bag front, a new kitchen waste collection is added weekly but for many of us who recycle regularly, this will be a backward step as we go to fortnightlies and need to find the space to store more material...for those who compost already, this will make little difference...recycling will go down and there is no incentive for householders to recycle more!





Option B:  Kitchen waste and recycling picked up weekly and black bag waste picked up fortnightly...for the keen recyclers and composters out there, not a problem, in fact, great!  but for those who 'can't be bothered' then it could be a nuisance...for those that have legitimate reasons for not recycling (I can't think of many when it's weekly), it too could be challenging, but in the grand scheme of things, not a major issue...I can think of worse things to have to worry about.





So what is the bigger picture...well, firstly, the Council are trying to harmonize all the waste collection services in Cornwall...this has got to be a good thing, and could save considerable money in tough times....whilst at the same time bringing on new and innovative services like kitchen waste composting.  Of course, the best thing for householders is to compost at home and use the wonderful compost for your garden...the Council also offers a Green Joanna digester which can handle pretty much anything thrown at it, including meat and fish!


Secondly,  dwindling landfill space, fines for missing landfill targets and the impending decision on the incinerator, all mean there is a real need to maximize recycling and reuse rates and minimise what we consume.  If we don't, costs will go up to the Council as we miss targets, that's bad for you and I, and the argument for the incinerator only gets more justified as a way to deal with the vast quantities of waste that we produce....oh, and by the way, if we reduce what we purchase and consume (that doesn't meant eating less) then we can save money as well.  Do you really need that electric toothbrush?  or the pink fluffy dice for the car?


Thirdly, it makes sense.  If you look at the bin below, over 75% of its contents are recyclable, and that's a standard figure.  So if you take all those things out, then there should be no need to have black bag waste collected weekly....what's left is cellophane, those ghastly tetrapaks (see movie below), nappies and odds and sods.





Nappies!  now there's an issue...what's fluffy, comes in different shapes and sizes, is better for the environment and can save you up to £500 per child?  Real nappies, or washable nappies...or Terry Squares...now fun, funky and a real practical option to save waste and money....see www.goreal.org.uk for more info.


What about rats?  If there's nothing worth eating in your bag, because it's all been recycled or composted, then they won't visit...and anyway, you're never more than a 20ft from a rat, or so they say!


What about smell?  Smell from rotting food and nappies assumes one thing...that you're not using the kitchen waste service or real nappies.  OK, real nappies might not be for everyone, but if nappy smell is the issue, then you have a choice, one that saves you money and the environment.


What about health effects?  WRAP (QUANGO for waste) conducted research on this issue and reviewed over 150 research papers on this subject and found no evidence to suggest that going to fortnightly collections of black bag waste had any health impacts.


I'm not trying to trivialize individual issues and challenges...some people may well have personal circumstances that would make fortnightly black bag collections a problem, but for the overwhelming majority, in an age of environmental uncertainty and dwindling resources, our actions now can have big implications for our future and our children's future.  Especially when we will be signing up to a long term contract that could be up to 15 years.
So I would urge as many people as possible to choose option B, and choose to increase recycling and reuse!

Wobbly legs and melting ice caps...with map attached!

Mission complete…well at least half complete because I still have to cycle home this evening!  However, from the looks of the map below, it should be mostly down hill!

And the point of the exercise (quite literally) was to save energy (fossil fuel derived, not my own!) and CO2…to that end, given my car emits 140g/km then today by biking to work, I will have saved 4.5kg of CO2.

Seems trivial perhaps….but just one trip like this a month would probably save almost 1% of my total annual carbon footprint….

Imagine if everyone did that?

I’m off to find a bacon bap!  (local of course)

Jon Rolls

Chief Executive

Here we go...26km to work!

It's 7am and I'm wearing more lycra than I ever dared to imagine...and all in the name of climate week!


Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Carb Loading for Climate Week...

Climate Week has largely passed me by...and by the sounds of it...most other people, except our dedicated staff at ReZolve who have been giving up their cars and digging allotments...oh, and those great CoaST'ies (www.cstn.org.uk) who celebrated their 8th birthday this week with a fantastic conference about being 'Positively Deviant' or going against the flow!  which is what we all need to do if we're going to reverse climate change.

So back to the point, Climate Week is very nearly over and so I've left things a bit late in the day to have a big impact, so I thought I would still make an effort to cycle to work...which is no mean feat for me as its 21.6km from start to finish....and most of that is up hill as far as I can see!

Cycling to work is often quoted as a great way to reduce carbon, and indeed it is, but it's not without its challenges in Cornwall, given most people's distance from their home.

However, I'm planning to start cycling to work, at least once a month (this sounds pretty pathetic but at 21.6km each way and 4 hrs out of your day, small things make a big difference) which is not as much as I would like, but given hectic diaries and the logistics of having fresh pants on arrival...it's a big commitment!

There are some other upsides to this carbon offset lark, fitness, fresh air and the great outdoors....and if you're in to great scenery, then I thoroughly recommend the World Heritage Trails in the Luxylan Valley...my starting point for the journey! http://www.cornish-mining.org.uk/ and after that, National Cycling routes which connect vast parts of the country via quiet country lanes and great off-road tracks.  For detailed mapping have a look at the great Sustrans site where you can enter your postcode and see the routes near you. http://www.sustrans.org.uk/

So as I sit here contemplating tomorrow mornings 7am start and watching my youngest regurgitate his rice on the floor...carb loading takes on a new meaning!

Yours,

Slightly Apprehensive from St Austell

Climate Inspired Reuse

Several members of the ReZolve team decided to alleviate the need for new goods during Climate Week and turned to reuse instead.  Cynthia our Training Manager is fashioning some cushions covers from her old curtains, Alan our Operations Manager was looking to build some raised beds from reclaimed timber - reusing and growing his own veg (double points)!  And Tara, our Promotions Officer, has had a spring clean and has streamlined her Wardrobe, offering a bag of good quality clothes to her local charity shop.  Tara advises that she is now psyching herself up to tackle her 18 year old's sons wardrobe that hasn't been internally fumigated for nearly three years and still has a primary school uniform hanging in it!

We have also come across this great website which also aims to cut down the need for consumer purchasing but is based around sharing rather than reuse.  It still needs a lot of people to sign up to be really useful but the concept is great: www.streetbank.com

Climate Week

So this week we are all trying to change one thing in our lives as part of Climate Week.  As an organisation ReZolve is always trying to lower our impact on the environment.  We were delighted that a Business Link report found the organisation to be carbon negative but recognise that there is always more that we can do as an organisation and as individuals.  We will bring you a few updates on what our staff have been doing and how they found it.

Our HR manager Becky Hosken and our RE:STORE Administrator Steve Hill have decided to car share as they live fairly close to each other and despite not working at the same site, they do both travel to Bodmin!  They have been taking turns to drive and will be doing so for the rest of the week, hoping to save 112 miles of travel in just this week alone. 

What's even better is that they plan to continue once the week is over.  Becky estimates that if they continue to car share they could save approximately £600 each in a year!!  Not to mention the fuel emissions they are cutting and the wear and tear on their cars.  There are some downsides, in that on the days that they aren't driving they can't get out and about if they need to; but this can be counteracted with forward planning. 

Another plus that Becky has noticed is being more focussed by having a definite leaving time.  Both Steve and Becky recognise that it won't be practical to car share every day but they both see the sense in doing it when they can.