Could you go a week without rubbish?
People in the Bristol area are being challenged to go an entire week without throwing anything away, in an attempt to cut down on the amount of waste we produce.
Zero Waste Challenge Week starts on Monday and aims to encourage people to recycle and compost as much of their rubbish as possible.
Organisers want residents to reuse items such as shopping bags as much as possible and cut down on materials that can't be recycled.
Four local authorities have joined together to get as many people to take part in the initiative as possible: Bristol; Bath and North East Somerset; North Somerset; and South Gloucestershire councils.
Staff at Bristol City Council hope that by the time the challenge finishes on Sunday, October 5, people will have a list of their own top tips for cutting down waste, based on their experiences during the week.
The Evening Post found a number of people who were willing to take part in the challenge and see how they would manage.
Some have more experience with recycling than others but all were keen to cut down on the amount of waste they produce.
We will follow their progress during the week, see what challenges they face, and how they do.
Anyone wishing to take part in the challenge can call the council on 0117 922 2100, and have the chance to win £50 worth of prizes in a draw.
6 Comments
by JoJo, Bristol
Monday, September 29 2008, 11:03AM
“Daniel, totally disagree with you. I live under South Glos council in a normal sized house with a family. We manage to recycle what needs to be recycled in the large and small green bins, and put out all our usual household waste in the black bin, both collected every fortnight. Neither bin is overflowing and a trip to the tip is only necessary for large items which the bin men won't take and never have.”
by Daniel, Thornbury
Monday, September 29 2008, 5:22AM
“Ali, Fortnightly collections don't work at all. All it does is encourage people to get in there cars and drive to the local tip to get rid of there waste which will go to a landfill anyways. Sort of defeats the whole ideal of all this environmental stuff if everyone is jumping in there cars and taking rubbish to the tip on a weekly basis doesn't it?”
by Ali, Bristol
Sunday, September 28 2008, 8:38PM
“I can't see what the fuss is about with fortnightly collections. In South Glos we have green week then a black week which has encouraged me for the first time ever to recycle. It's easy when you get into a routine. I do feel for those though who have to bring their bins through their house for collection days - a friend has to do this and it aint easy or pleasant.”
by TONY LEWIS, hORFIELD
Sunday, September 28 2008, 3:14PM
“What a stupid idea we already have fortnightly collections ,It is simplicity itself not to throw anything away in one week.”
by The Northsider, Gas LAne
Saturday, September 27 2008, 2:18PM
“Dont support supermarkets .... grow your own”
by Alex, Bristol
Saturday, September 27 2008, 12:22PM
“2 tips for those doing this "challenge"..
Go one better than recycling..... Anti-cycling, choose not to have bags from supermarkets if you're only buying a few items. Don't use the bags in the fruit/veg section in supermarkets, place the items loose on the checkout, they can still be weighed.”