Zero Waste Podcast 12: Our Zero Waste Future

Food waste collection are coming, to every household in Edinburgh. By 2020 70% of our waste will be recycled and less than 5% of waste will be sent to landfill. It that even possible? How do you change a city? How do you change a country? It's time to find out with the Cabinet Secretary, Zero Waste Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council. Leith, Edinburgh and Scotland, this is our Zero Waste Future: 

If you have iTunes installed on your computer you can subscribe to our audio as a podcast by clicking here. 

The photo at the top is the Cabinet Secretary Mr Lochhead at the launch of the Government's new recycle for Scotland Campaign. The big green box is a sort of reverse vending machine, you give it things to eat and it cheers and tells you what they can now become. In today's podcast we featured Angus Murdock from the City of Edinburgh Council:

 

He told us that food waste collections are coming soon. I managed to take a photo of the map on his wall showing the areas that already have food waste collections:

For more information on your recycling facilities check out the City of Edinburgh Council Website. Remember Angus said prevention was better than cure, for more information on reduce waste in Edinburgh check out the Changeworks website and the Zero Waste Scotland website. Today's podcast featured Miriam Adcock from Zero Waste Scotland:

 

Miriam talked about the Zero Waste Scotland Volunteer programme which Changeworks run on their behalf in the Edinburgh and Lothians area. Find out more on the Zero Waste Scotland website, call 0131 555 4010 or email wasteprevention@changeworks.org.uk. 

Our Zero Waste Podcast Series

And here we are at the end of the series, we started by following the journey of waste to landfill and ended by looking into the future. In between that we've covered:

• the joy of poo and real nappies
• cutting waste in the classroom
• home composting
• worms in the house
• clothes swaps and charity shops
• reducing food waste with kitchen canny
• waste action in action
• smart shopping and saying no to plastic
• buying less and borrowing instead
• buying less and repairing and re-skilling

We've met some brilliant people along the way including todlers at a toy library, birds of prey at the landfill site, an MSP at the parliament, worms (yuk), community groups, charities, families and individuals who are making a difference. Here's a flickr slide show of the highlights, you can see all the photos from the series here:

Thanks to everyone who's made the podcasts possible and to you the listeners for being part of our community journey towards zero waste.

The Zero Waste Podcast series is produced by Emily Dodd for Greener Leith and funded by City of Edinburgh Council Waste Action Grants, Vegware and Changeworks. 

The theme tune for the podcast was brought to you by Waste Action Grant funded project, Trash Arts.

Zero Waste Podcast 8: Kitchen Canny

Today in Leith an exciting new kit called 'Kitchen Canny' launched from Changeworks. It aims to help householders find practical ways to reduce their food waste and save money. It includes membership to an community of people who, like the Prince Family, are up for a challenge:

 

They're like you, they don't waste food. But they took part in the Kitchen Canny Pilot along with 3000 others across Edinburgh, the Lothians and Boarders. The results were astounding. On average households reduced food waste by a whopping 37%. It seems we do waste food after all, in fact we waste over 2 million tones of it in Scotland every year.

What can Kitchen Canny do to make a difference? How is it different to food waste collections? Months after the pilot will the Prince family even remember Kitchen Canny? All this and more in our exclusive Kitchen Canny Launch podcast: 

 

If you have iTunes installed on your computer you can subscribe to our audio as a podcast by clicking here. 

A Kitchen Canny kit costs £10, see the new Kitchen Canny Website for details. You can also get connected to food, news and top tips on the Facebook Page and follow the project on twitter @KitchenCanny. 

Heralding today's launch, New Kitchen Canny Project Manager Evelyn said:

“This is an exciting time for Changeworks. The new Kitchen Canny kit is better than ever before and will save people money and time. Not only that, it will also reduce the amount of food waste we produce which is fantastic.

"We piloted and developed the whole kit so that it’s something practical that people will want to get their hands on and take part in. We’re also encouraging people let us know how they’re getting on and share their tips with others through the new Kitchen Canny Facebook app and website. Go online and get canny!”

Kitchen Canny tries to tackle the problem of food waste at the source. Food waste recycling collections started in Edinburgh this September, they deal with the results of our food waste problem but are expensive and use energy. There's more about food waste collections and some great stats on Scotland's frivolous food habits on this BBC video or read more on the Zero Waste Scotland wesbite.

Locally you can find out more about our zero waste future on the Zero Waste: Edinburgh and Midlothian website or read the Zero Waste Scotland plan, download it as a PDF. Note there are amendments since publication including the ban on biodegradable waste going to landfill moving forward to 2020 and small businesses having to recycle their food waste by 2015.

Food is high on the agenda and later in our podcast series we'll be catching up with Zero Waste Scotland to ask them how they plan to ban food from bins by 2020. If you have any questions you would like me to ask Zero Waste Scotland about food or waste please add them to the comments below. 

The Zero Waste Podcast series is produced by Emily Dodd for Greener Leith and funded by City of Edinburgh Council Waste Action Grants, Vegware and Changeworks. 

The theme tune for the podcast was brought to you by Waste Action Grant funded project, Trash Arts.

Zero Waste Podcast 5: Home Composting

Here are the worms:

Here's what they eat:

Here's what they make:

Home composting, fine for folk in country but not so great in cities like Edinburgh? Meet Anne Hay, she looks very happy with her bin:

Now lets zoom out a little to her garden:

Anne lives in a flat in Leith, the garden is 'city sized', some might call it small but Anne is home composting. Is it all a little too close for comfort? Does the bin smell? Did volunteering put that smile on Anne's face? Find out all of this and more in the latest Zero Waste Podcast:

If you have iTunes installed on your computer you can subscribe to our audio as a podcast by clicking here. If you enjoyed peeking into Anne's bin there are more photos here:

PLEASE NOTE: Composting is a fantastic way to reduce the amount of waste you send to landfill and make a beneficial produce for your garden. 

If you want to know how to get started, where to put your bin or what goes in it you can log on to the Changeworks website, call 0131 555 4010 or email wasteprevention@changeworks.org.uk. If you're already composting but need some help you can book a home visit from a Zero Waste Scotland Volunteer using the contact details above.

If you would like to join Anne and become a Zero Waste Scotland Volunteer, you will need to attend a one day training session at Changeworks, Leith. After that you can pick and choose from events every month and give as little or a much time as you can. You get your transport to events refunded, you get to interact with lots of different people, you get into events for free and there's gardening vouchers for all the volunteer hours you contribute. Most importantly you're helping to make the world a better place. You can read about the latest volunteer recruitment drive on STV local or find out more about volunteering on the Zero Waste Scotland website. Alternatively call 0131 555 4010 or email wasteprevention@changeworks.org.uk. 

The Zero Waste Podcast series is produced by Emily Dodd for Greener Leith and funded by City of Edinburgh Council Waste Action Grants, Vegware and Changeworks. 

The theme tune for the podcast was brought to you by Waste Action Grant funded project, Trash Arts.

Zero Waste Podcast 4: Cutting Waste in the Classroom

Jessica and Bonnie have a story to share with you, it's about what they're doing to cut waste in the classroom at Leith Primary School.

Will the nursery find Coco the bear in the bin? What does Head Teacher Mr Friend have to say about food waste? How much paper did Primary 5 reuse and what did they make with it?

Can Zero Waste Heroes really help the government to reduce waste? Listen to the first Greener Leith Podcast presented entirely by local school pupils to find out:

Leith Primary School are working towards their Eco Schools silver award and ultimately their first Green Flag.

The Green Flag is a huge achievement for a school, it takes around two years and involves all year groups, teachers and the community. Flags are awarded after an Eco Schools Assesment from Keep Scotland Beautiful. 

Leith based Environmental Organisation Changeworks run free workshops and assemblies like the ones on this podcast to help Edinburgh schools reduce waste. 

Leith Walk Primary School are taking part in the Zero Waste Heroes schools competition. Schools receive a pack that includes a fun interactive lesson for the Eco-schools committee, a power pack of missions with action plans, stickers, posters and a set of weighing scales for the school.

You can find out more on the Changeworks Schools page.

The Zero Waste Podcast series is produced by Emily Dodd for Greener Leith and funded by City of Edinburgh Council Waste Action Grants, Vegware and Changeworks. 

If you have iTunes installed on your computer you can subscribe to our audio as a podcast by clicking here. 

The theme tune for the podcast was brought to you by Waste Action Grant funded project, Trash Arts.

Zero Waste Podcast 3: Charity Shops & Clothes Swaps

In a consumer culture, clothes generate cash. The UK fashion industry brings in over 20 billion pounds every year. Fashion changes and we keep buying. New clothes make us feel good, we need clothes to keep warm. There are many ways to justify our spending habits but what about the clothes that no longer cut it on the catwalk?

I visited Changeworks, Leith to find out how can we reduce, reuse and recycle clothes in Edinburgh. I put reuse in to practice at a clothes swap party at Sofi’s bar in the Shore. Can you really recycle your underwear? Were men spotted swapping kilts in Leith in the name of sustainability? All this and more in our latest Zero Waste Podcast:

 

If you have iTunes installed on your computer you can subscribe to our audio as a podcast by clicking here. 

Here are some photos I took at Sofi’s Clothes Swap Party:

You can find your nearest charity show on The Edinburgh Charity Shop and Reuse Map. It's free to download or you can pick up a paper copy from Changeworks or at most local charity shops.

The Zero Waste Podcast series is produced by Emily Dodd for Greener Leith and funded by City of Edinburgh Council Waste Action Grants, Vegware and Changeworks. 

The theme tune for the podcast was brought to you by Waste Action Grant funded project, Trash Arts.

Printer vs The Bin

Forget the film Cowboys and Aliens, it's a game for the playground. Aliens vrs Dalek is way more impressive (but Daleks are aliens so... Aliens vrs Aliens?) but wait, there's a battle right here in our homes and on our doorsteps, it's the battle everyone's talking about this September, yes it's..... Printer vs the Bin.

This brilliant film was produced by Recycle Now to encourage people to think about recycling electrical items. Thanks to Aunty Rubbish at Recycle for Gloucester for highlighting it. 

In Leith we can fight the battle and win by taking working electrical items to a number a charity shops, download the Changeworks Charity shop map for details. It's worth calling ahead to the shop to double check they accept your items. 

Then there are Edinburgh websites like gumtree, freecycle and freegal. You simply list the working item on the site and who every wants it will get in touch and come and pick it up.

You can also take electrical items to the City of Edinburgh Council recycling centre and reuse cabin at Seafiled. Working electrical items are collected by charities and broken electrical items are recycled.

The battle is on, come on Leith, save the printer, don't let the bin win! 

Read more from Emily on Sustainable Stories, Twitter or Facebook. 

Zero Waste Podcast 2: The Joy of Poo & Real Nappies

 

Real nappies are funky, fun and come in a variety of shapes, sizes and materials. With eight million disposable nappies going to landfill every day in the UK it's worth finding out a bit more about an alternative that's covered in zoo animals and is not going to splatter you with runny poo when your babies bottom explodes.

I visited a Changeworks Nappuccino (that's a Real Nappy coffee morning) in Leith to find out more about using real nappies. I also had the chance to get some real questions answered like is it really better for the environment to use real nappies when you're using a washing machine and is it just too much of a faff to try and wash them? Listen to our latest podcast to find out more:

I took some photos of the nappies and the demonstration doll, Rory. Here's a flickr slideshow of them:

Research shows you save around £500 by using real nappies.  It's also better for the environment and you can wash them in a washing machine at 60 degrees. To find out more visit the Changeworks Real Nappy Project or the Zero Waste Scotland website.

For the latest research on real nappies compared to disposable nappies download a PDF of Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable and Reusable Nappies in the UK (Environment Agency for England and Wales, DEFRA and WRAP report).

The Zero Waste Podcast series is produced by Emily Dodd for Greener Leith and funded by City of Edinburgh Council Waste Action Grants, Vegware and Changeworks. 

If you have iTunes installed on your computer you can subscribe to our audio as a podcast by clicking here. 

The theme tune for the podcast was brought to you by Waste Action Grant funded project, Trash Arts.

Zero Waste Podcast 1: The Journey of Waste

What happens to our rubbish when we chuck it? Join us as we travel from bin to bucket-lorry, from claw to compactor, from train to tipping on the journey of waste. Meet a noisy hawk, ride a fork lift truck and hear live wretching all in one stinking podcast:

See the journey of waste with the flickr photo slideshow:

There’s more about what you can do to reduce, reuse and recycle from Leith based Environmental Organisation Changeworks  or from Zero Waste Scotland.

This Zero Waste podcasts series is funded by the City of Edinburgh Council Waste Action Grants. Here’s more from Waste Education Officer Anita Sharkey on how a grant can help you to reduce waste in your community: 

Thanks to the staff at Powerhall Waste Transfer Station and Dunbar Viridor Landfill Site for sharing their stories with Greenerleith for the journey of waste.

The Zero Waste Podcast series is produced by Emily Dodd for Greener Leith and funded by City of Edinburgh Council Waste Action Grants, Vegware and Changeworks. 

If you have iTunes installed on your computer you can subscribe to our audio as a podcast by clicking here. 

The theme tune for the podcast was brought to you by Waste Action Grant funded project, Trash Arts.