Over Christmas there often isn’t time to notice how much stuff is thrown away. There’s the wrapping paper, boxes from presents, the leftover brussel sprouts and many other things that need to leave the house as quickly as possible in black or your recycling .

Working with rubbish and recycling we are aware of just how much there is to be collected from homes in the few weeks after Christmas. The graph to the left/right/above/below shows the amount of rubbish that was collected from homes and taken to local recycling sites in December last year and January this year. In the week before Christmas 7869 tonnes of rubbish was thrown away from homes West London (London Boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Richmond) but in the first full week in January this increased to almost 8500 and the following week there was even more with just over 8600 tonnes.

To put this in to context, a tonne is 1000kg so the weight of all the What do we mean? rubbish collected in the 2 weeks after Christmas was Over the next 10 weeks we’ll be using 17,100,000kg. A Ford fiesta (depending on the model) weighs some jargon words and other words that mean different things to everyone. So to about 1 tonne so the rubbish after Christmas was the equivalent help us avoid confusing you in future weight of 17,100 cars. All of the items in your bin are actually paid weeks and to give you a guide to refer for in three different ways – back to here is an explanation of some terms we may use. 1) they would have cost something to buy, 2) time and effort has been used to shop for them, prepare or Reduce wrap them, and For us this is about not putting something in the bin or not putting as much in the 3) it also costs money to collect them from your home or take bin. them to the local Household Re-use and Recycling Centre and finally to send them for disposal. Re-use Using an item that has been used before, you may have used it before or someone else might have done. You might be re- using it for the purpose it was made or originally used or for something else. Rubbish collections begin catching Recycle up for missed Christmas The process of recycling is about changing days the shape of something and making it in to something new. You will recycle by putting an item in to a bin, box or .

9,000 8,000 Then a company will undertake a process to make something brand new. 7,000

Tonnes 6,000 Rubbish Dec Dec Dec Dec Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan This is anything you throw in your rubbish wk 1 wk 2 wk 3 wk 4 wk 1 wk 2 wk 3 wk 4 wk 5 bin or bag. When we’re talking about rubbish we do not mean items you put in your recycling collections.

Yes, there’s a lot of rubbish but with very little effort it’s possible to reduce how much ends up in the bin – saving you money and time We’re going to try and only use this word and helping the environment. Over the next 10 weeks we’ll give to suggest there was a better use for something. We could say “it’s a waste of you tips, ideas and practical help so that when Christmas comes time” or “it’s money wasted” or “a waste there will be more time to spend with family, more money in your of a bottle” – to try and express our pocket and less going in your bin. feeling that something more valuable could have happened. So let’s get you started right now!

Something to do this week For this week we’d like you to have a look at what you’re currently throwing in your bin and how much you’re recycling. From these 4 suggestions choose how many you’d like to do.

1. Measure your rubbish We’d like you to measure it this week (and if you feel like it – every week!). You could measure it every time you take the rubbish out of the house or the night before your next collection.

Choose one of the ways you could do this: Record the volume - count the number of bags, and check how full your recycling boxes are. Record this (a scrap piece of paper or the back of an unwanted envelope would be fine) and put it on your fridge or noticeboard as a reminder.

For Rubbish bin or Recycling Food waste recycling example black sacks Week 1 3 black bags and 1 Black box – full 1 compostable liner bag Blue box – half full Week 2 Bin is half full Garden waste sack – 5cm deep one third full

Weigh it – If you want a more precise measure you could weigh your rubbish. Place your black bags and recycling bag/box on the scales and record the weight of each bag/box.

Helpful advice  Wrap your bathroom or kitchen scales in a to keep them clean and dry.  If you put your recycling loose into a wheeled bin to make it easy to measure out it in plastic bags on the scale and empty the recycling into your bin.

2. Look at what is already in your bin

If you’re feeling brave you could take a look to see exactly what’s already in your bin. Before you do this, please change in to clothing you don’t mind getting a little messy, if something in your bin is damp or has spilled you could end up with it on your clothes. It’s a good idea to do this outside and put down a large plastic sheet before emptying your bin bags and sifting through it with your rubber gloves on. But you could simply put on your marigolds and have a root around whilst the bag is still in your bin for a quicker and easier alternative.

Write down the items that feature in your bin and start to have a think about how you could reduce or re-use these items. Ask us for a bit of advice or post on the Facebook page and see if others taking the challenge can assist with some good ideas.

3. Record what you’re throwing away

A less messy thing to do is to record items as you throw them away. Put a piece of paper on or next to your bin so you can put a tally mark on it as you throw something away. Have a quick think and draw up a table listing the most common things you think are in your bin and just put a mark against them when you throw it away. Items could include – plastic film from magazines, cling film, foil, cotton wool, disposable nappies and bottle tops.

4. Record food going in the bin

If you don’t fancy looking at everything in your bin, you could focus on food. We know that up to 40% of the content of a is food. Whether it’s peelings, out of date food or what was left on the plate after dinner there will be some food that ends up in the bin or in the food waste recycling collection. Use our 7-day food waste diary to see what doesn’t get eaten.

Have a read Make it a team effort! If you’re not sure what you can put in your

It’s always easier if more than one person gets recycling collection check out your local involved… council recycling web pages  Try to recruit a friend or neighbour to Love Brent Christmas Hate Waste with you Ealing  If you choose one of the things you could do Harrow

ask someone else in your home to do one of Hillingdon the others Hounslow Richmond

Read the Rubbish Diet blog, a challenge undertaken by Karen Cannard in 2008 to reach zero waste. Just like you are doing now, she started her challenge with the basics of seeing what was in her rubbish.

Fact of the week - Each year the tax on sending a tonne of rubbish to increases by £8, if we keep rubbish levels in West London the same this costs an extra £3million each year.