Ethical Living

If you're looking for an alternative to taking that old sofa to the tip and adding to the world's growing problems of land fill, or if you're wanting to de-clutter and give some of your possessions to a good home then consider taking them to Emmaus situated next to the listed 12th century Manor House ruins in Portslade, near Brighton.

With the moto 'giving people a bed and a reason to get out of it' Emmaus is a residential community offering a home and work to 40 men and women, many of whom have been homeless.

The work of the Community centres on the re-cycling of donated goods including furniture, household appliances, electrical goods, bric-a-brac, clothes, books, music, toys etc. They are able to collect, refurbish sell items in their shops dubbed the largest ‘Second-hand Superstore’ in the South of England.

Even if you don't have something to donate it makes a lovely morning out. The gardens are lovely and the shop is endless. The many rooms are filled with all manner of items - some of which produced many cries of 'oh my goodness i had one of those' from us both. The cafe where i had a fantastic bacon and egg sandwich with salad was yummy and the staff working there were polite and friendly. The shop also stocks a large selection of plants & shrubs grown in the nursery garden. All in all a lovely morning, i'm glad my old pink sofa can be of some use and my shopping habits can be put to good use supporting a fantastic project.

Labels: Brighton, eco-friendly furniture, Ethical furniture, recycling

It's just one of those annoying things isn't it when you cut down on your packaging, separate out your recycling and are still left with a little pile that looks like it can be recycled but you not sure if it can and who you should give it to. Well as I can see Michael finishing off another cartoon of Innocent smoothies I thought I’d have a Google and find out.

Being made from paperboard (typically 70-90%, low-density polyethylene (typically 10-25%)and aluminium foil (about 5%, only in long life or aseptic packages) tetra paks can be recycled. The problem seems to be that councils have not deemed them to be a big enough priority to add them to their kerbside recycling collections. A reason cited by some include the fact that there isn't anywhere near enough in the UK that can take the cartons for reprocessing that makes it economically and environmentally viable. Although this does seem to be a rather strange excuse when others materials are transported halfway around the world to be reused?

The carton recycling process is essentially quite simple. Baled cartons are dropped into a pulper, similar to a giant domestic food mixer, filled with water, and pulped for around 20 minutes. This delaminates the packaging, breaking down the package to produce a grey-brown slurry. The aluminium foil and polyethylene are separated from the fibre, which is recovered to make new paper products.

Many European countries achieve very high carton recycling rates. For example, in Germany and Belgium it is between 65 and 70% - only slightly ahead of Austria, Sweden and others. The European Union as a whole achieves a 30% carton recycling rate. But in many many many parts of the UK it is extremely difficult to find somewhere to take them.

Tesco has teamed up with Tetra Pak and the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment in the UK (ACE UK) to introduce two carton collection banks in Tesco stores every week until September across the country. But of course if you can't bear to go into Tesco (think it's better for the environment to steer clear of the place!) then Tetra Pak does operate a postal recycling scheme for those who wish to recycle their cartons.

Labels: Brighton, Ethical living, recycling

In view of the new WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive Magpie has launched Re-use IT! an initiative that aims at curbing the amount of IT equipment currently land-filled from the Brighton and Hove area. Magpie customers will now be able to dispose of their old computer equipment in an environmentally sound way. They are able to collect IT equipment that is old or no longer works for recycling. The collections are made on a special round, your usual collectors will not be able to take IT equipment with your other recycling. See here for further details...

Labels: Brighton, Ethical living, recycling, WEEE

Michael and I manage to recycle a great proportion of our rubbish but the dreaded eco guilt creeps in when I throw away leftovers from dinner and all the bits and pieces from the chopping board. Many councils are offering residents an improved service and increased support for home composters and there are lots of tips and resources online for those who want to make a compost heap. We have absolutely no outdoor space whatsover so a composter in the bottom of the garden is definitely out. At work we have a wormery and whilst the wiggly things are a great source of humour and fun in the office (yes we are quite sad) and they do work very well, I've discovered that unless you are very good about draining them off regularly then they absolutely stink. And in a small one bedroomed flat I just can't stomach the thought of it. I'm thinking of trying a Bokashi Composter but I'm a bit disappointed that the container is only made from 85% recycled plastic. If anyone uses one of these please let me know if it works...

Labels: recycling

The seventh annual Compost Awareness Week (CAW) will be celebrated nationwide from Sunday 6th to Saturday 12th May 2007.

Compost Awareness Week aims to encourage more people to recognise the benefits of home composting and the great results that can be achieved by using peat-free composts containing recycled materials in the garden. The week was brought to the UK by The Composting Association and now forms a key part of WRAP and The Composting Association’s (TCA) annual calendar.

As a nation we produce around 30 million tonnes of rubbish each year and over half of this waste can be easily recycled. In fact, over one third of the contents of an average UK household dustbin can be home composted, not to mention all the garden waste that can be added to a compost bin. Yet many people still do not recognise how important and simple this is to do.

Compost Awareness Week is our chance to help people get closer to the benefits of compost. There are plenty of activities going on across the country, so don’t miss your chance to take part. If everyone gets involved in spreading the compost message, we can all help to create a cleaner environment for future generations. Read more here...

Labels: recycling

It's such a nice feeling when you trawl through cyberspace and come across a really good example of how the web can facilitate positive change. ReadItSwapIt is a free service which has 109719 books available for people to swap. Yes you can donate your old books to your local charity shops but then you go and buy new ones. Yes you can go to library to borrow books but 99% of the time the newer titles aren't available and range of books can be limited. With this website you also can track your book and see who else has read it and if they've enjoyed it. A great benefit for me who's always a little sad to say goodbye to some of my most loved books - come on I'm not the only one surely! Check out the site here

Labels: recycling

"There are lots of innovative things you can do to help reduce your rubbish – check out some of the tips below to get started." Read full article here...

Labels: Ethical living, recycling

By Lawrence Marzouk. "Kerbside recycling collections are being extended in Brighton and Hove
Weekly recycling collections are being extended to 13,000 extra homes across Brighton and Hove. From March 26, households in 220 more streets will have their kerbside recycling collected weekly instead of fortnightly."Read full article here...

Labels: Brighton, recycling