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 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.

Cyclists on pavements: How dangerous are they?

Before we explain what this map shows, we should make it clear that Greener Leith does not endorse cycling on pavements unless they are designated as 'shared use' paths. We'd also encourage all cyclists to adopt a considerate attitude to anyone around them.

With the disclaimer done, the point of this post is to try to get to the facts about the risks posed by cyclists to pedestrians on pavements in the city, particularly as the Evening News is fond of writing articles like this one, that simply begin: "It's a long-standing gripe about cyclists that some of them seem as at home on the pavement as on the road..," and then proceed to imply that "lycra louts" are a terrible risk to the good citizens of the city by cycling illegally on the pavement.

So lets look at some facts (kindly provided by the City of Edinburgh Council). The map above shows all the accidents that involved cyclists or pedestrians where they were killed or seriously injured in 2010.

Last year, there were precisely zero serious accidents on a pavement that involved a cyclist injuring a pedestrian, so there's none to show on the map.

The green markers indicate an accident where a cyclist was seriously injured or killed by a motor vehicle.

The blue markers indicate an accident where a pedestrian was seriously injured or killed by a motor vehicle.

The yellow markers indicate an accident where a cyclist was seriously injured in an accident with another cyclist. All of these incidents took between cyclists who were both on the road.

Lastly, there was one accident last year where a pedestrian was seriously injured by a cyclist, but the incident happened in a cycle lane on a road. That accident is marked with a red marker.

Now the Evening News is not alone in suggesting that there are risks posed by cyclists to pedestrians on pavements. Certain city councillors have been known to express their "grave reservations" about proposals to formally allow cyclists to use short sections of pavements.

As things stand it's usually illegal for cyclists to use the pavement, and there's also no doubt that, if you're walking somewhere, mindlessly enjoying your iPod, it can be somewhat disturbing to have an inconsiderate cyclist fly past you on the pavement, seemingly out of nowhere.

However, the data suggests that the magnitude of the risk to pedestrians from cyclists using pavements is tiny in comparison to the risks that both pedestrians and cyclists face from motor vehicles.

To add a bit of historical perspective, the graph below, shows all the people killed or injured in Edinburgh, across all transport types over the last three years. It shows that the general trend is downwards, even though more people are cycling and driving than before.

In 2010, there were precisely zero serious accidents between cyclists and pedestrians on any pavement in the city. So, whilst some pavement cyclists are undoubtedly obnoxious and scary to others, the next time you hear someone complaining about lycra louts, or voicing 'grave concerns' about the danger of cyclists on the pavements, show them this blog post. And then ask them whether council proposals to allow cyclists to use some sections of pavement seem so unreasonable.

For the geeks amongst you, the map was made using Google Fusion tables, whilst the graph was made using Google Charts.

Number 10: Eco Bus

Have you not seen? Have you not heard? A beautiful, electric-diesel, retro-chic low carbon hybrid bus is here in Leith! Lothian Buses introduced 15 state-of-the-art hybrid number 10 buses to our streets on the 10th September 2011 with help of the Scottish Green Bus Fund. Read more on STV Local.

I've noticed the drivers have big smiles on their faces. Is it because these busses are more efficient, more environmentally friendly and quieter? Or could it be the joys of the little star lights going up the stairs, the plasma screen, stop announcements and free WI-FI? I'd be proud to drive a number 10 if I were a bus driver. It's captured my heart, no bus can be perfect but the number 10 comes close.

On that note, if I were to change it, I'd want it to speak with a male voice (get rid of the posh female Edinburgh accent) and it would talk less and I'd like it to play music and occasionally tell me a fascinating fact but apart from that, it's wonderful. Here's my poetic tribute to the new number 10:

Number 10

Number 10

New Number 10

Electric-diesel

Hybrid

Bus Unique

So smooth and sleek

With stars of shining

Stair-light

Dream machine

So cream and clean

My double decker

Cake Tin 

Retro-chic

You even speak!

Free WI-FI I can

Check-In

Bus, I’m keen

I like it green

Your plasma takes me

North-bound

(an hour later)

Number 10

I have to ask

Please can you speak less

Often?

If you speak

Then be a man

And I will ride you

Home-ward

Heralding the arrival of the new number 10, Lothian buses said:

Hybrid Buses are more efficient than ordinary buses because their engines run only to generate electricity which drives the wheels. We are committed to reducing pollution from our buses and providing the greatest possible environmental benefit for each new passenger who makes the switch from the car to the bus.
In addition, fuel is not an unlimited resource, and its cost is constantly rising, so the less fuel we need to run the buses the more services we can keep running cheaply and efficiently.

The number 10 goes from Western Harbour to Torphin and Bonaly, via Leith Walk, Princes St, Lothian Road, Polwarth and Colinton. Click here for timetable.

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

Image credit: Emily Dodd

Talking Rubbish

Earlier this month we launched our new Zero Waste Podcast series with a podcast that took you from bin to bucket-lorry, from claw to compactor, from train to tipping on The Journey of Waste. Today's podcast is a wee extra, just because the guys had so many wonderful stories, it seemed a shame not to share the best with you.

Meet the men who work with our waste at Powderhall Leith. Weapons in the bin, animal antics and the baby born on the landfill site. Welcome to a Zero Waste Podcast 'Extra', the Chronicels of Waste:

 

Thanks to the brilliant staff at Powerhall Waste Transfer Station and Dunbar Viridor Landfill Site. 

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.

Nature's Calendar: June

Wellies on, it’s time to get wet for the the June edition of our Nature’s Calendar Podcast . Meet a Leith Leech, discover who’s making a tunnel from tiny rocks and go fishing with us in the Water of Leith.

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

Thanks to our nature experts from Earth Calling. 

Innertube Map Postcode Cycle Challenge

On Sunday 12th June over 500 people took part in the Edinburgh Innertube Map Postcode Challenge. The 'treasure hunt on wheels' helped to publicise the fantastic network of cycle paths we have on our doorstep, many of the routes start right here in Leith.

The Innertube Map is a London underground style map of the Edinburgh bike tracks with colour coded lines and stops. The map is part of an interactive website, and a team of Innertube Map Ambassadors are populating the map with videos, audio and stories generated by their smart phones and smart thinking. Members of the public can submit stories too, find out how here.

I joined the challenge, met some great people at the stops and picked up a few prizes on the way. Here are photos of the people I met (click on the blue links to see bigger versions) and the story of my journey:

Postcode Challenge on Storify

UPDATE: Now it's all over, we can reveal stop locations to you via Andy Catlin's wheely good google map of the postcode challenge.    

View Postcode Challenge Sun 12 June 2011 in a larger map

Newhaven: Sunset on a windy day

The Harbour: Sunset on a windy day from Emily Dodd on Vimeo.

I walked to Western Harbour last night to film the terns, I'd enjoyed Colin Brown's guest blog on welcoming the terns back to the forth. I didn’t spot a tern but had a good time filming and thinking.

I wasn’t planning to do anything with the film footage until I read Ally's piece about the memorial benches this afternoon. I was reminded that Newhaven Harbour is a special place for so many people and for so many reasons. I decided to make a film of why Newhaven Harbour was special to me last night, it's all about the wind..... and the sun. I'll explain.

The wind has been raging of late both outside in Edinburgh and inside, in my life. I want it to be calm but it’s unpredictable and scary. Last night I was reminded, sometimes you need to stop looking at the wind, stop listening to the storm and look up, look ahead and see the sun.

That’s what this film is about. I hope you enjoy it.

And if you really wanted to see a tern, Debbie Grant took a cracker of a photo of one above Gormley's 6 Times.

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