Changing times

 

Look out for the new booklet

Please keep an eye out for the new booket coming through the letterboxes of all households in North East lincolnshire over the next few weeks. It tells you all about the services available for recycling and waste disposal, as well as some changes agreed by the Council recently.

Some of the big changes will be covered on the blog in the next few weeks, including Frequently Asked Questions answered.

The ones to be aware of are :

• All residents must recycle as much as possible using the triple boxes.
• Side waste (extra bagged waste) will not be collected. All waste needs to fit inside the green wheeled bin.
• From 1st April 2012 residents must pay for a second garden waste bin collection. All residents are allowed one bin for garden waste collected free of charge.
• From 1st April 2012 residents will be charged for replacement wheeled bins. The first set of recycling boxes will be provided free of charge and subsequent sets charged for. 
• From 1st June 2012 cardboard will no longer be accepted in your brown (garden waste) bin. Instead it must be placed in the green wheeled bin or taken to the CRC. This is to improve the quality of our garden waste collections and the compost produced.

There's lots of help and guidance available to help households who are struggling to recycle or to fit their waste in their green wheeled bin, please contact the Waste hotline on 01472 325841 or follow us on Facebook or Twitter . @RubbishGeek and www.facebook.com/letswasteless

Thanks to all those who are already recycling and cutting down on their rubbish! Let's work together to protect the planet and waste less!

 

Out and about for Real Nappy Week 2012

Happy to help

Our team have enjoyed popping into various groups and locations to show off the modern designs for Real Nappies this week for Real Nappy Week 2012.

People have been genuinely surprised to see how easy they are to use and wash, and how much money they can save.

Thanks to all those who have come to chat with us about their nappy options, whether on purpose or just passing by!

For more information on Real Nappies visit http://www.goreal.org.uk/ or for details of support (including up to £50 cashback incentive from North East Lincs Council) visit www.nelincs.gov.uk/nappy  

On Tuesday of Real Nappy Week 2012 in Freshney Place, Grimsby

We also got into the local paper ! :) Have a read at http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/Mums-urged-switch-usable-nappies-save-money/story-15848547-detail/story.html

Visits in Real Nappy Week 2012

It's here again! Real Nappy Week organised by those lovely people at Go Real  www.goreal.org.uk

We'll be out and about in North East Lincolnshire to talk to residents about their choices when it comes to nappies, and to show off the options in modern, reusable nappies.

We'll also be telling them how to claim back £50 off their purchases from North East Lincolnshire Council

Hope you can join us!

Please feel free to share this image on Facebook, or print it out as a poster to share locally. Thanks!

Reusing our rubbish



Over £1400 was raised for charity this time we had a bring and buy sale at the Grimsby Community Recycling Centre!

10 porcelain dolls had been disposed of at the Community Recycling Centre, but were rehomed on the day

 Thanks to all who made donations on the day.

It really does show that one person's trash can be another's treasure.

Items for sale included : 1 telescope, 2 full sets of dining chairs, 3 airing racks, 4 oversized teddies, 5 sets of plates and crockery, 6 sets of golf clubs and 10 porcelain dolls

Thanks to our lovely volunteers!

To find out when the next sale day is being held please visit our events page on the Council website (but it's usually the last Friday of every month)

Spring into action

Too busy to blog??


Well I must admit the blog feels a little neglected recently, sorry about that!
But with only 2 more views needed to hit the 3000 views mark, I think it's been ticking over nicely!

We've been very busy out and about with workshops and planning roadshows, including paper recycling with South Parade primary school. We showed them how energy intensive, and resource intensive the recycling process can be , especially for water! They made some fantastic posters about why it's important to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle and some lovely creative recycled paper.

There are going to be some changes happening to our recycling service, so residents please look out for a booklet coming through your doors in April with full details!

One of the big things will be that all residents are required to recycle, using the triple boxes. If residents don't have the boxes they should phone the Waste hotline on (01472) 325841. This will be in effect from 1st April 2012, so not far away!

It's our shared planet, and we all need to get into the habits of making less waste, reusing wherever possible, and recycling what we can, to save our resources for future generations.

For more information on events coming up see the web pages http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/resident/recycling-rubbish-waste/competitions--promotions-and-events/

Let's get composting!

Well it wouldn't fit through the letterbox but FINALLY it has arrived! My new compost bin!

£10 purchase from http://www.nel.getcomposting.com/ (cheaper from here, because the Council pay part of the cost before you! AND you get a little caddy for the kitchen)

Actually if you look carefully there are two here, as I took advantage of the buy one get one half price offer. There are therefore also two composting kitchen caddies, for peelings, flower heads etc.

If you live in North East Lincolnshire you can also get a copy of a little book on composting for free (RRP £4.95) and a Frequently Asked Questions sheet, to help you on your way!

http://www.greenbooks.co.uk/Book/41/Composting.html

 Getting greener

  This is brilliant, because the theme for this week's Rubbish Diet Challenge has been all about gardening.

I've been challenged to plant a few salad crops instead of buying large lettuces that I inevitably don't finish, and come in polythene wrappers - if I had my own in the garden I could just go and get the leaves I need for that meal!

I must admit I am not green fingered in the slightest, but with Spring in the air, I am keen to make the most of our garden. Most of it is taken up with a trampoline, admittedly, but the idea of the satisfaction of growing my own basics; carrots, onions etc. is very tempting!

Back to bad habits

This week has been a slump for the rubbish diet with a whole black bin bag going out for the collectors
 :( Serves me right for being smug last week!
Lots of recycling went too, nicely separated, but somehow everything I used this week seemed to have packaging that had to go in the regular bin. Future Hubby remembered to put the recycling boxes out, so big pat on the back for him!

Must make more effort with shopping in the next three weeks.

It's worth seeing how others have been getting on with their Rubbish Diet too :
http://www.beyondthebluebin.com/ is one of my favourites!

Chocolate experiments !

Tiffin - food waste super saver

I am a self confessed Chocaholic. I had some friends round on Friday afternoon and when testing the biscuits in preparation (essential) for their arrival, found they were soft :(
I think the seal has gone on my biscuit barrel. I wasn't going to chuck them though, not just yet, but I did need a tasty treat to go with our cups of tea.

Never fear! I had a lovely recipe for Chocolate fridge cake, that I've been recommending left, right and centre, from http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/

But I couldn't find the recipe card at home, or online, despite hunting high and low! So, instead I got all experimental (and checked out a recipe from Jamie Oliver online instead!).

I've also included my next three Top Kitchen waste saver tools in this post: weighing scales, spatula and reusable baking sheet.

So here's my experimental tiffin recipe, with some tribute to that nice Jamie Oliver:

1 tablespoon Golden syrup

200g Plain Chocolate

150g butter or margarine

200g digestive biscuits (I didn't have enough around the house, but did find some neglected cranberry biscuits left from Christmas to make up the total)

1 handful of sultanas

1 handful raisins

3 crushed meringue nests (I'd made some earlier in the week, and they were already half squished! Jamie's suggestion)

If you don't have some of the fillings other substitutions to bulk it out could be : nuts (any kind), pieces of fudge, chocolate chips, dried fruits, dried peel, cherries... let your imagination run!




Scales are my number 4 top tool in the kitchen





1. Line a shallow tin (approx 25cmx15cm) with a reusable baking sheet (if you have one) or greaseproof paper.

2.Weigh out the ingredients.

3. Lightly crush the meringue nests and biscuits, mix in other dry ingredients.

4. Melt the chocolate, butter and golden syrup gently. You could zap it in the microwave, but I chose to make a bain marie, a pan of boiling water on the stove with a bowl resting on the top (not plastic though!)

 5. Add the dry ingredient mix to the chocolate mixture and stir well. Remove from heat.

Plastic spatula is my number 5 top tool in the kitchen.

It makes a big difference to cleaning out bowls 

and getting the maximum of mixture into the tin

6. Empty mixture into the tin and smooth into the corners using the back of a metal spoon. It's best if the mixture is 1 -2 cms deep.

7. Place in a fridge to set for 1-2 hours. Cut into small squares to serve.



Reusable / washable baking sheet is my number 6 top tool in the kitchen.
A bit fiddly to wash a dry, but lasts a long while and saves on waste.

 Let me know how your experiments turn out and what you add in!