Clothes donation bins

If the idea of cloth nappies conjures images of towelling squares loosely held by a large safety pin, think again. Modern versions have come a long way and are now available in bright colours and a variety of materials, including cotton, bamboo, microfibre and hemp. Growing consumer concern over plastic waste, and a more pragmatic desire to save money, means boom times for the reusable nappy industry. “There is increased awareness of the impact of disposable nappies – they are a single-use plastic. It started with coffee cups, then disposable wipes, and the jump from wipes to nappies is clear,” said Wendy Richards, director of UK online provider The Nappy Lady. She says the number of people using the service has grown by 80% in the past year. The business has doubled its staff since the start of 2018. About 25% of a disposable nappy is plastic and three billion nappies a year end up in landfill. Some councils in Britain now give new parents vouchers worth up to … [Read more...] about All change as millennial parents turn to cloth nappies

Are you dreaming of a green Christmas? Households and individuals across the UK are turning their backs on the vulgarity of Christmas consumerism and waste by cutting back on obvious and most visible areas of excess such as unwanted gifts, plastic trees and decorations and unrecyclable wrapping paper. But the scale of our extravagance remains shocking. The Bank of England has calculated that the average UK household will splurge £800 extra in December on food and drink as well as gifts. Included in this is an average of 17 gifts bought per individual, according to online retailer Amazon. And according to a recent study by waste management company Biffa, the UK creates 30% more waste than usual over Christmas. This includes an estimated 227,000 miles of wrapping paper and 1bn cards that end up in the bin. An estimated 20% of gifts – some 120m items – will be headed for landfill on Boxing Day, according to the UK Gift Card & Voucher Association. To make the most of … [Read more...] about Dreaming of a green Christmas? Here’s how to make it come true

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even... our black Labrador Storm, who was too busy snoring away on our bed, dreaming of Brussels sprouts and gravy.    In our house, birthdays, Easter and Christmas have always involved our dogs.  Every birthday my wife Marina bakes a dog-friendly cake, and doggy friends are invited for doggy games.  At Easter, Bonio biscuits are hidden around the garden instead of chocolate eggs. And Christmas? Well, dogs and Christmas go together like mulled wine and mince pies. When I was a child, our house was often filled with more dogs than people at Christmas.  Ben Fogle (pictured at his London home with Labrador storm) shared advice for a pet friendly home throughout Christmas As the son of a vet, it wasn’t unknown for me to celebrate it with a dozen dogs all staying in my parents’ tiny farm cottage in Sussex, but that’s just how I liked it.  Dad was … [Read more...] about A Christmas without dogs? You must be BARKING! Ben Fogle says the day isn’t complete without a pooch (even though they might send the Monopoly board flying and try to steal the turkey)

Janey Godley prods her chin lovingly, as she talks about ageing. “I love putting up pictures on Twitter of me with no makeup. See every wrinkle,” says the Glaswegian comedian, who is 58. For a glancing moment, she sounds a little awestruck. “I survived rape, I survived my Ma being murdered, this is my face. If it offends you, don’t look at it. I think other people should have that attitude.” Godley is sitting in the kitchen of the elegant Edinburgh tenement flat she has rented for the duration of the fringe with her daughter Ashley Storrie, a successful comic too, of whom her mum is glowingly proud. It is a biblically rainy day, and Godley has erected a shoe-changing station of plastic bags and a small stool at the front door, anxious to keep the carpets clean. With years of five-star reviews and sold-out gigs behind her, recent months have brought her a huge new audience as a result of the political voiceovers she posts online. Within hours of Boris … [Read more...] about ‘I joked about my life – Ma’s murder, child abuse, gangsters’: how Janey Godley became the queen of comedy

Sainsbury’s has abandoned a £10m project to halve food waste in a designated town across Britain after a year-long trial produced miserable results. The supermarket group gave families in one town, Swadlincote in south Derbyshire, free gadgets to cut food waste – such as devices to measure the correct amount of spaghetti to cook, “smart” fridges to control content and temperatures more accurately, food planners and magnetic shopping lists – and monitored the results. However, the year-long experiment fell far short of its 50% target, with households believed to have cut food waste by only 9% – and telling Sainsbury’s the issue was not a priority for them. The £10m Waste Less, Save More programme was launched in 2015 to find out why consumers throw so much edible food away, with £1m spent on an “experimental testbed” in Swadlincote. The market town beat 188 areas in the UK to be awarded the project and … [Read more...] about Rotten results: Sainsbury’s drops project to halve food waste