Real Nappies work for us

Amy  looks at why real nappies have worked for her and Esme…

Unbelievably Esme is now six months old, so we have six months of using real nappies under our belt, and I have to say I love them; well, as much as anyone can love a nappy!!  We have a few different styles of nappy, from the flat bamboo square to the shaped nappy, some with poppers, some with Velcro and some which use ‘nappy nippas’; some are birth to potty which are very economical! And all use the separate waterproof wraps.  The wraps come in all sorts of designs and so look quite cute when on; she is a very stylish girl!!

The main concern people have over using real nappies is the amount of washing they will generate.  Yes they do need washing , unless you use a laundry service, but I have found that I need to do a nappy wash roughly every other day or every third day as babies ‘go’ much more in the early days, so the amount of nappies they get through really decreases after the first couple of months.  However, I have found that washable nappies actually reduces the amount of other washing I need to do – whenever I have used disposable nappies, I have found the disposables have a far greater tendency to leak. As a result of using disposables I have had to do far more washing of baby clothes, bedding, blankets, and even my clothes when the leak is quite dramatic! 

So I combine real and disposable nappies? Yes. I have found that, because real nappies are more bulky, I can only fit a couple of them in the baby changing bag (not enough for a day out), so I do admit to using disposables when out and about.  Also whenever away on holiday or away for the night there is no way I am going to pack a load of washable nappies and then wash and dry them while away; so its disposables for holidays.  I think the message is if you are using real nappies , don’t feel that you have to only use these, there are occasions when even disposables are an easier option and so the two can be combined.

But aren’t real nappies more expensive?  Maybe initially, but they pay for themselves in the long run.  Also, you don’t have to buy them new.  The thought of second hand nappies may not sound that palatable, but after a thorough wash they are as good as new.  And if you are still a bit squeamish about it you can always wash them in nappy sanitiser.  I got all my nappies second hand, and so in total I’ve spend just £50 on nappies that should see Esme through to potty training; I do love a bargain!  Also I took up the offer of the Trafford Council real nappy incentive scheme and so got a further £50 worth of nappies for free – an excellent scheme.

Waste Creative - an award-winning success!

Reblogged from Being A Freelance Artist:

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Waste Creative, the recycling project run by Woodend Artists and funded by Recycle for Greater Manchester has come to the end of it's first phase. The project consisted of a series of workshops based around using rubbish creatively and culminated in the production of an information pack and DVD about recycling.  The project also included a visit to the Materials Recovery Facility in Manchester, composting workshops and choosing some local recycling champions.

Read more… 204 more words

Feed your garden rubbish and your plants will love you

 Sheridan Hilton, Waste Prevention Manager at Recycle for Greater Manchester goes back to his zoology roots for Compost Awareness Week.

As a keen zoologist I am always looking for ways to make the most of my garden and encourage urban wildlife. The sun doesn’t always shine bright in the North West, but when it does, I really enjoy spending time in the garden looking out for welcomed visitors such as birds and butterflies. There is something very therapeutic in sitting in the garden and watching nature go about its business, especially after a stressful day full of e-mails that just don’t know when to stop coming.  I’ve been tempted to bury my Blackberry at the bottom of my garden more than once but worried I might grow a Blackberry tree…. and then there really would be no escaping those emails.

When it comes to my garden, I like to keep things as natural as possible. Organic herbicides and pesticides are the way to go. Ready-to-use products that zap weeds with vinegar (acetic acid), or essential oils (such as clove oil or citrus oil) are available from various manufacturers. Most products are at their best when applied to young weeds on a hot, sunny day. Soapy water with essential oils or garlic, as well as coffee grinds and broken egg shells can also be used as a good organic pesticide. Better still, creating a haven for birds, sand lizards (if you are lucky enough to live in coastal areas) and ladybugs is a great way of using nature as a natural pesticide against those pesky slugs and aphids.  

As you can tell I like to keep my garden naturally healthy and with Compost Week upon us, it got me thinking about how I should start feeding it my household rubbish….in the form of homemade compost.

Are you thinking it’s complicated, time consuming and worried you might spontaneously self-compost (see what I did there?) with all the effort? It’s actually a simple and cost effective way of producing a soil enrichment product for your garden, and also helps to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfill. It will help improve the condition of your soil, suppress plant disease and produce better plants and flowers in your borders, hanging baskets, window boxes and vegetable plots. Your garden will really love you for it. If you are looking for hints and tips, visit the composting page of our website to help you get started. It’s simple because you can compost so many readily available household waste items including; egg shells, vegetable peelings, fruit scraps, egg boxes, coffee grounds and teabags, as well as sawdust, cardboard and wood shavings.

The food that you can’t put in your home compost bin can still go in the food and garden recycling bin (if you have one), for collection by your local Council, which takes all raw and cooked food and garden waste. It will then be taken to one of our In-Vessel Composting facilities for conversion into compost.

The best part is that to encourage home composting, Recycle for Greater Manchester has partnered with getcomposting.com to offer home compost bins for as little as £16.98 plus delivery – less than half the recommended retail price of £39. There is also a ‘Buy One Get One Half Price’ offer, adding extra value to residents with larger gardens or those who team up with a friend or neighbour to buy a bin.

With all that compost goodness in our gardens, the Blackberry tree may well become a reality across Greater Manchester after all…… It’s certainly got me thinking about home composting and with an imminent house move to our first home, its time I invested in a home compost bin. What about you?

Dead leaves and Garden weeds, Recycle it, Simple as.

One of the waste operatives shows off the Greater Manchester compost

 It’s time to ‘dig out’ that lawnmower from the deep dark depths of your garage or garden shed because summer is on its way!

There’s no better way of welcoming the sunshine than giving your garden a little TLC.

A bit stuck on where to start? Visit Royal Horticultural Society’s website for Top 10 jobs to do in the garden for May

However, before you sit back and watch your garden bloom, you have still got all that garden waste to contend with!  Simply put it in your garden recycling bin or take it down to your local Recycling Centre.

Thanks to your hard work gardening, you are also helping us to turn your garden waste into high-quality compost. 

Your garden waste along with your food waste goes to one of the In Vessel Composting  (IVC) facilities in Greater Manchester.

IVC is 100% natural composting process used to recycle food and garden waste into compost.

So an IVC is like a home compost bin, but on a massive scale; it’s a system for recycling all of the garden and food waste in Greater Manchester.

The five stages of IVC:

• Pre-preparation – on arrival, the waste is inspected and the materials that cannot be composted are removed.
• Shredding - the material to be composted is then shredded in a bio-chopper to prepare it for processing.
• Composting – the shredded waste is placed in large vessels known as silos.  Temperature and oxygen levels are carefully monitored to provide a perfect environment for micro-organisms to thrive.
• Maturation – the composted material is left to mature for a period of between two and three weeks to make it suitable for use.
• Screening and storage – following maturation, the product is checked to ensure it is of a high-quality, ready for dispatch.

 Have a look at this video which explains the whole process.

The whole process only takes 6 weeks – from your food and garden waste to compost!

To make sure we continue to produce high quality compost, please make sure it’s only food and garden waste you put in your food and garden recycling bin.  Recycle Right.  #Simpleas.

Catch next week’s blog about hints and tips about Composting at Home

Date for your diary:

May 6 -12, International Compost Awareness Week

Love Food Hate Waste enthusiasts in Greater Manchester

People were inspired to pass on the message of food waste reduction

Love Food Hate Waste trainers from WRAP ran two training sessions this month and we hear how the sessions went…

My colleague, Cheryl Woodruff, and I recently ran two Love Food Hate Waste trainer support sessions for Recycle for Greater Manchester. A total of 14 people attended the sessions which covered the significance, causes and consequences of food waste, the steps which food manufacturers, suppliers and retailers are taking to help us all waste less food, and most importantly a range of Love Food Hate Waste tips and advice to make the most of our food.

Cheryl and I both really enjoyed delivering the sessions to the two groups who both contributed enthusiastically to the discussions and the activities within the sessions. The attendees included local authority staff, NHS staff, food workers, University staff, community café workers and volunteers.
Everyone left the sessions keen to pass on the key messages of Love Food Hate Waste (planning, knowing your dates, storage, portioning and using up leftovers) to others either in the course of their work or to family and friends – or both!

Thanks go to Recycle for Greater Manchester for arranging, publicising and hosting the sessions. If you are interested in hosting a similar session please contact us via the Love Food Hate Waste website.

‘Binned’ but not forgotten

We put the record straight when it comes to what happens to Greater Manchester’s household waste

What happens to the household recycling in Greater Manchester is a very popular question and so are the myths that surround the replies.

Our website is brimming with information on Where does it all go?  We describe what happens after it leaves your home and why it doesn’t get dumped on a landfill site in India. We can assure you that everything you put in the correct recycling bin will be recycled. #SimpleAs.

Here in Greater Manchester we make sure that all of your household recycling, both at home and away (not the Australian soap) is never forgotten. This means  the waste you put in your home recycling bins and items you bring to the Recycling Centres, which are dotted about Greater Manchester is all  reprocessed into something new.

A few facts

• 80% of the fridges and freezers you recycle are  made into a new product in the UK  and could come back as an aluminium can or even a plane!
• 100% of the carpet you bring to the recycling centre is made into new products or used to generate electricity in the UK….
• Those plastic bottles you recycle from the bathroom and kitchen today could come back as a new bottle, a drainpipe, a children’s toy, garden furniture or even a car bumper.
• 100% of the TVs and monitors you recycle are processed in the UK… all the parts of the TV will be used and made into something else. …the TV or monitor you recycle today could come back as another TV, a computer or a telephone.
• 100% of the small appliances you recycle are processed in the UK… the toaster you recycle today will have all it metal and plastics bits parts recovered and reused it could come back as part of an iron or a drill.

Now there’s a thought and there is much more to find out about, so why not take a look at how resourceful Recycle for Greater Manchester is with your waste. We are aiming to reach a 50% recycling rate by 2015, so why not help us to get there. We’re already on 40%, so what can you recycle today…..?

Monday: Real Nappy Week 2013

Reblogged from Adventures of a clothbum mum:

This is a little flying visit from me as it's not only the start of Real Nappy Week 2013 (very exciting stuff!) but also the start of a new school term, which means that I'm stupidly busy! I've got a week of getting back into the swing of things with my lovely classes as well as a week of meeting lots of lovely mummies and their cloth-bummed (or wannabe cloth-bummed) babies.

Read more… 416 more words